The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control
Galatians 5:22

A Short Reflection

Can you remember a time when you were impatient?
Bring the moment to mind for a few minutes and recall what was happening, what you thought, how you felt and what you did...


How do you feel now about the event?
Do you regret anything. Are you comfortable with the memory?


Now, imagine the event/situation again. But this time, imagine that you can see Jesus standing beside you. Spend a few minutes running through the situation again from beginning to end with Jesus there at your side.
Will the situation be different in this scenario? How will you react?...


Finish by spending a little time talking with God. Share your feelings and innermost thoughts with God.

May God's blessing go with you.

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In the eleventh century Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, wrote this prayer. It is a beautiful call to prayer which you can use in your own time of quiet meditation.

After reading the prayer, I suggest that you take the last two lines (or part of them) and use those words reflectively. Perhaps repeating them in time with your breathing - to allow yourself to move into a closer awareness of God - the God who surrounds and sustains you even when you are not conscious of the divine presence.

Come now, little one,
turn aside for a while
from your daily employment,
escape for a moment
from the tumult of your thoughts.
Put aside your weighty cares,
let your burdensome distractions wait,
free yourself awhile for God
and rest awhile in him.
Enter the inner chamber of your soul,
shut out everything except God
and that which can help you in seeking him.
And when you have shut the door, seek God.

Now, my whole heart, say to God,
'I seek your face, Lord,
it is your face I seek.'

Sometimes I imagine my inner life as a house - a house in which I dwell and in which God enters and lives alongside me. The doors, the windows, the view, are all significant to me. Anselm's words 'enter the inner chamber of your soul', put me in mind of this prayer picture I sometimes use. Perhaps some of you also pray like this occasionally?

If you are interested, I have written more about Anselm here.

The words are modified from the prayer in the Lion book, A Prayer Treasury.
 

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... but it is still Advent and sometimes that fact gets lost in the preparatory rush for the 'big day'.

Here is a suggestion for some final Advent reflections for you.

The 'O Antiphons' (an antiphon is a spoken response in a church service) have traditionally been used - in the Church of England - as antiphons to the Magnificat at Evening Prayer during the period from 17th December to 23rd December. Their precise provenance is not known but they were being used as far back as the sixth century.

Here is a list of them - you can see that they comprise different ways of addressing Jesus.

O Sapientia – O Wisdom – 17th December
O Adonai – O Lord – 18th December (Adonai is actually plural - O Lords)
O Radix Jesse – O Root of Jesse – 19th December
O Clavis David – O Key of David – 20th December
O Oriens – O Sunrise – 21st December
O Rex Gentium – O Sovereign of the nations – 22nd December
O Emmanuel – O Emmanuel - 23rd December (where Emmanuel means 'God with us')

One way that you might consider using them at this time is as a 'prayer-word' during silent meditation. Simply choose one of the O Antiphons - either Latin or English - then close your eyes and repeat slowly your chosen prayer-word. If your mind gets distracted, don't worry, just come back to saying your prayer-word. You will probably find that the rhythm of saying your prayer-word with your breathing seems the most natural way to do this.

The aim in this type of meditiation is to simply rest in God's presence, to be more aware and to be open to the transforming power of God's Spirit. Aim for ten minutes initially, but the duration of this meditative form can be lengthened if and when you become more accustomed to it.

A more detailed description of praying in this way is described here.

The Benedictine monk, John Main, was a great advocate of this style of meditating.

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For those who like praying using the method of Lectio Divina, then this is a lovely passage to meditate with.

The area round about Galilee is described here as the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphthali - two of the original twelve tribes of the Israelites. These words are used again by Matthew in his gospel.

Remember, Lectio is not a form of Bible study - it is a way of 'praying the scriptures' - of letting the Holy Spirit bring the words alive for you now. If you want to know how to pray with a passage using Lectio Divina then here is a description.

In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.

The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—
on them light has shined.
You have multiplied the nation,
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as people exult when dividing plunder.
For the yoke of their burden,
and the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.

Isaiah 9.1-4

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There is still time to slip out to your local bookshop and buy a book to guide you through Advent.

As a starter - just before Advent - why not take a moment to wonder at the miracle of incarnation. Our God became an embryo inside Mary, which grew, was born as a baby boy in pain and struggle, was brought up in relative poverty and lived here amongst us human beings.

Is that amazing, or is that amazing?!

You might like to spend some time meditating on the following words taken from the New Living Translation of John Chapter 1.

In the beginning the Word already existed.
He was with God, and he was God.
He was in the beginning with God.

The Word became human and lived here on earth among us.
He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.

When you have taken this passage in, then take a little while to give thanks for the ongoing miracle of incarnation - Christ in you.

For we are living temples of God.

Praise him!

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Here is a beautiful passage from Luke's gospel to be used for 'praying the scriptures' using the method known as Lectio Divina.

If you don't know about this way of praying then here is some information to get you started: How to do Lectio Divina

Now try it with this passage from Luke's gospel containing the words of Jesus.

Luke 11:9-13

So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!

Thanks be to God.

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This post is a distillation of what has been described in earlier posts about Lectio Divina and is created to be used as a look-up.

Lectio Divina (divine, or holy, reading) is a way of acknowledging that our book of scripture - the Bible - is alive and active and of allowing it to be used by God to speak directly to our hearts - in order to deepen our relationship with God and to grow us spiritually.

A passage of the Bible is read slowly and reflectively to allow the words to soak into our hearts and minds. It is not a way of Bible study - trying to unravel the meaning of the Hebrew or Greek words - but is a way of opening ourselves to God using a meditative approach. Here is a reminder of how you might do Lectio Divina:

Read the chosen passage once, slowly. Then read it again - slowly. And perhaps, even a third time. S...l...o...w...l...y!

It may be that part of the passage - a word or a phrase - seems to be more significant to you than another. Choose the word or phrase that speaks to you the most. Now repeat this word/phrase - s-l-o-w-l-y - several times. Try not to analyse it, just allow yourself to savour it for several minutes - to ruminate on it - allowing the sense of it to fill you and feed you.

After ten or fifteen minutes (longer if you like!) talk to God about your prayer time and your response.

Rest in God's presence and then commit the rest of the day to God.

I also enjoy a second way of describing lectio - involving chocolate! Wikipedia describes how the method of Lectio Divina has traditionally been considered to have four parts: Lectio, Meditatio, Oratio and Contemplatio. All of these together making a "Feast on the Word".

This is how I see it in, er - well, chocolatey terms:

Lectio Reading the passage: taking a lovely bite of the chocolate - nice and slowly...m.m.m.m....

Meditatio Mulling over part of the passage: letting that wonderful chocolate melt deliciously and slowly in your mouth!

Oratio Opening to God in a conversation: telling God how fabulous his chocolate is - then moving on to an intimate chat.

Contemplatio Loving, wordless focus on God: just resting with God with that lovely 'satisfied' post-chocolate feeling!

If you want to read more you might like to try these:

Wikipedia contains a useful article on Lectio Divina.

If you like to understand how and why things have developed then there is a useful definition of Lectio Divina at the Carmelite website.

Or if you would like some music while you explore:

Learning about Lectio with music

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Image of Gutenberg Bible via Wikipedia

In an earlier post - So what, exactly, is Meditation? - I talked about a way of differentiating two types of Christian meditation:
apophatic meditation which uses no content - it involves emptying ourselves of images, ideas and sensations; and kataphatic meditation which uses images - symbols, ideas and experience.

We then looked at the method of meditation called Lectio Divina, which can straddle both types. In a local quiet morning recently, I used the method of Lectio Divina with part of Psalm 119 and I would like to share that with you.

Lectio Divina (divine, or holy, reading) is a way of acknowledging that our book of scripture - the Bible - is alive and active and of allowing it to be used by God to speak directly to our hearts - in order to deepen our relationship with God and to grow us spiritually. A passage of the Bible is read slowly and reflectively to allow the words to soak into our hearts and minds. It is not a way of Bible study - trying to unravel the meaning of the Hebrew or Greek words - but is a way of opening ourselves to God using a meditative approach.

Here is a reminder of how you might do Lectio Divina:

Read the chosen passage once, slowly. Then read it again - slowly. And perhaps, even a third time. S...l...o...w...l...y!

It may be that part of the passage - a word or a phrase - seems to be more significant to you than another. Choose the word or phrase that speaks to you the most. Now repeat this word/phrase - s-l-o-w-l-y - several times. Try not to analyse it, just allow yourself to savour it for several minutes - to ruminate on it - allowing the sense of it to fill you and feed you. Then talk to God about your prayer time and your response.

Here is the passage.
It is Psalm 119: 33-40

Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes,
and I will observe it to the end.
Give me understanding, that I may keep your law
and observe it with my whole heart.
Lead me in the path of your commandments,
for I delight in it.
Turn my heart to your decrees,
and not to selfish gain.
Turn my eyes from looking at vanities;
give me life in your ways.
Confirm to your servant your promise,
which is for those who fear you.
Turn away the disgrace that I dread,
for your ordinances are good.
See, I have longed for your precepts;
in your righteousness give me life.

Now speak with God in the quiet of your heart.

If you like to understand how and why things have developed then there is a useful definition of Lectio Divina at the Carmelite website

If you would like a description of how to do Lectio by using the analogy of eating chocolate then try this earlier post!

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Mother Teresa was born in Macedonia in 1910 and is of Albanian descent. She joined an Irish community, the Sisters of Loreto, when she was eighteen and after being trained, was sent to a convent in Calcutta.

She was very moved by the poverty she saw there and, when she was thirty-eight, she was given permission to cease her work in the convent school and work directly with the most poor in the slums, developing an outdoor school. Over time, she was joined by other helpers and when she was forty, she received permission from the Pope to found her own order - the Missionaries of Charity - caring for the most poor in society.

She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 and her missionary order now flourishes throughout the world. A more detailed biography can be read on the Nobel Prize website.

The following words are reported to have been found on the wall of Mother Teresa's Children's Home, Shishu Bhavan, in Calcutta and/or on a wall of her home. They are now closely linked with her.

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere, people may deceive you.
Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.
Create anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, will often be forgotten.
Do good anyway.
Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.
Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God.
It was never between you and them anyway.

These words are a modification of The Paradoxical Commandments - written by Dr. Kent Keith in 1968 to encourage and guide other student leaders.

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On this day of waiting - pausing - before our great day of celebration, I would like to share with you this meditation from Creighton University in Nabraska, USA.

We are fortunate - for we know the whole story - but those followers of Jesus must have found this day almost unendurable.

Meditating with the mother of James and John

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This was part of a Quiet Morning in church amongst the 'Nets' - Wendy Rudd's textile project in the Lady Chapel.

John 10:27-30
My sheep know my voice, and I know them. They follow me, and I give them eternal life, so that they will never be lost. No one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father gave them to me, and he is greater than all others. No one can snatch them from his hands, and I am one with the Father.

Deuteronomy 33:27
The eternal God is your dwelling place and underneath are the everlasting arms.

Imagine an acrobat in a circus...

Beneath her she has a large safety net. If she makes a mistake, if she slips, if she makes a misjudgement – her fall is broken by the gentleness of the safety net.

God’s grace is our safety net.

When we hurt others – we are caught by God’s mercy.
When we ourselves are hurt – we are caught by God’s love.
We are ultimately safe in God’s hand.



Amen, loving God.

Further resource

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I mentioned in my Ash Wednesday post that I have registered for the Tearfund Carbon Fast during Lent - each day's suggestion if emailed to me. Now, I haven't managed to read each one on the correct day, but I have taken on board some of the actions. I wonder, is anyone else doing this particular fast? And have you found it useful?

I was rather struck by today's thought:

What comes in and out of your home?
Reflect on what you have bought and consumed recently and challenge yourself on your consumption habits.
Do you need everything you buy?
Pray about what you might do to change any bad habits

I have just been helping a friend set up her new computer and, in the process, she expressed some doubts about whether she should have bought such a pricey item (it was actually one of best buys). But I have no doubt that the benefits she will gain and the enhanced communication she will experience and offer to others will more than outweigh the monetary cost.

But she was wise to question herself. How often do we buy things/clothes/foods that are either totally unnecessary or simply excessive and surplus to our needs?

And it also brought me back to this morning's gospel reading. When Jesus went up to Jerusalem he found that the Jewish teaching about sacrificial offerings had become an excuse for rampant exploitation and money-making. A sort of religious consumerism. And he showed how he felt!

I think it is worth trying an Ignatian-style meditation on this passage:

Imagine you are one of Jesus' followers at that time. You are quite entranced by this man and his straight talking manner. His teaching on love is captivating and you are carried along - knowing this man is something very special - maybe not fully understanding - but also aware he is courting the displeasure of the religious hierarchy.

You are in a group of people who enter the outer courts of the Temple with him. Before you is a commercial marketplace - birds and animals of all kinds, busy stall-holders plying their trade. Be there, picture it... imagine the scene as you read the passage from John's gospel below... then close your eyes and allow the story to unfold in your mind's eye.

Where are you?

Close to Jesus?

In the background?

And what are your reactions as the events occur?

The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking of the temple of his body.

John 2:13-21

I wonder how you felt as Jesus overturned the tables and set the doves flying into the air?

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I have just discovered a rather lovely little book by David O'Malley called Prayers to Start the Day. It only cost me three GB pounds but it is a gem - light enough to pack easily in a suitcase or handbag and with short but thought-provoking prayers to start each day.

This is the short meditation that I read this morning:

We are called to be children of the light, open, playful, honest and dependent upon God. Darkness creeps into our lives when we forget to play, when we choose isolation and take ourselves too seriously, as independent people. We are not made for independence. We are made to belong to a loving Father. We are children of the light, not of darkness.
Our hearts are restless, until we recognise our dependence on God.

After this meditation David O'Malley asks the following questions for the day ahead:

What shadows are there inside me as the day begins?

Where will lightness and truth be most accessible today?

Who will need the light of my presence today?

Where will I find darkness a threat?

If you like to start the day with some kind of Daily Office and your lifestyle is busy, then this book might well be a useful resource for you.

Prayers to Start the Day by David O'Malley SDB; Don Bosco Publications: ISBN 0-9548388-0-7

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The poem by Edwina Gateley in my previous post set me thinking...
...thinking about the maternal nature of God's love.

Now, before some of you rear up or start bristling, I'm not about to say that God is female. But there again, I'm not going to say that God is male, either. Personally, I believe that God transcends gender - God encompasses both the perfect male and female characteristics - after all, how else could God create women and men?

And I promise that I will base some future posts around the paternal nature of God's love! But for now, because it is in the forefront of my mind, I'd like to think of some of the ways in which the Bible talks about the feminine side of God - and focus on one Bible passage in particular.

If you want to do some homework, then you might choose to look up these references in the Bible.

Deuteronomy 32:18 ...the God who gave you birth
Psalm 22:9&10 ...God as midwife
Isaiah 42:14 ...God crying out like a woman in labour
Isaiah 49:15 ...God compared with a nursing mother
Isaiah 66:13 ...God like a mother comforting her child

But my favourite passage on this subject has to be Psalm 131. Now you can approach this psalm in one of two ways (probably lots more, but I'm keeping to the things I know!). You can use the psalm to do a 'lectio divina' type of meditation - mulling and savouring. Or you can be more kataphatic and take your imagination for a little exercise - you can visualise being the weaned child at its mother's (God's) breast. I particularly like the fact that it says a 'weaned' child - not a colicky, fractious newborn, but a child who can smile, laugh and respond to its mother.

I once did a meditation based on this psalm when I was on a retreat at St Beuno's - curled up in a lovey comfortable armchair. It was a wonderful time of prayer for me and I will always remember it.

Enjoy the psalm.

Psalm 131

A song of ascents. Of David.

My heart is not proud, LORD,
my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
or things too wonderful for me.
But I have calmed myself
and quieted my ambitions.
I am like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child I am content.

Israel, put your hope in the LORD
both now and forevermore.

Many blessings
 

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Well, you probably won't get everyone to agree exactly on a definition - but let's take a fairly traditional Christian approach.

You can think of ways of prayerful meditation as falling into two distinct groups:

   - kataphatic (from Greek: 'with images')
   - apophatic

Odd words, eh?

Kataphatic prayer uses images - symbols, ideas, experience. Ignatian spirituality tends to be kataphatic - using imagination, words and pictures (inner or otherwise).

Apophatic prayer uses no content - it involves emptying ourselves of images, ideas and sensations. Carmelite nuns are expert in apophatic prayer - the still, centering prayer.

Lectio divina - which the last two posts have been about - tends to straddle both traditions - kataphatic and apophatic. It depends really on how you use the scripture passage that is chosen.

Of course, we're all different, and it's good to try different ways of prayer to discover which approaches suit us - or even, suit us in particular circumstances. That's what this website is about, really. Exploring tried and tested ways of praying in order that we might grow in spiritual maturity and awareness of God.

Anyway, enough of boring theory! Let's have a bit of practice! Shall we try a bit of apopathic meditation for a change?!! It's probably best to read the next passage through once or twice before doing this - you might want to close your eyes!

But first remember that, in this type of prayer, the aim is not to achieve a void, but a 'being with' the living God.
Now, are you in a quiet, still environment?
Are you in a comfortable position?
Then, let's begin!

Be still, let your body and your mind calm down from the busyness of the day...

Relax each of your limbs in turn:
   - right leg...
   - left leg...
   - right arm...
   - left arm...
Feel your limbs getting heavier as they relax...

Now, allow your pelvis and your tummy muscles to loosen. Feel your weight in your legs and hips. And as your muscles begin to unwind, be aware of your thoughts and feelings becoming calmer too.

Next, move your attention to your chest and then move up to your neck and shoulders. Notice the big muscles there - sense them, feel them - you might want to move them - and then allow them to soften and lengthen...

Now for your face muscles - feel the muscles around your mouth, around your eyes, your jaw muscles, your forehead... let them loosen and become softer...
Allow your scalp and your temples to let go of any tension or tightness they are holding...

You are feeling calm and still.
Stay like that for a minute or so...
Calm and still...

Then...
...focus on your breathing - feel your breaths coming from deep in the pit of the stomach. Don't worry about the speed or regularity - just breathe comfortably and deeply from deep inside your tummy...

Now, on each in-breath say the words, "My God",
and on the out-breath just be with your God.

After 5 or 10 minutes allow yourself to become aware of the room/space around you. And ask God to help you to continue to stay aware of God's presence in and around you as you 'come back' to your usual everyday awareness.

Now, share your thoughts with God as one friend to another.

And the blessing of God remain with you throughout the rest of your day/night.
Amen.

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Wikipedia contains a useful article on Lectio Divina.

The only 'nit' I would 'pick' with it is that it talks about putting aside a time of one hour each day to pray in this way. Now, that seems to me OK for nuns and monks, but for your common-or-garden working wo/man that appears to be a trifle ambitious!

But let's look at what Wikipedia says. It talks about how the method of Lectio Divina has traditionally been described as having four parts: Lectio, Meditatio, Oratio and Contemplatio. All of these together making a "Feast on the Word".

So now you see why chocolate is particularly appropriate! This is how I see it in, er - well, chocolatey terms -

Lectio
Reading the passage: taking a lovely bite of the chocolate - nice and slowly...m.m.m.m....

Meditatio
Mulling over part of the passage: letting that wonderful chocolate melt deliciously and slowly in your mouth!

Oratio
Opening to God in a conversation: telling God how fabulous his chocolate is - then moving on to an intimate chat.

Contemplatio
Loving, wordless focus on God: just resting with God with that lovely 'satisfied' post-chocolate feeling!

Would you like to try it with another passage? Perhaps Psalm 23?

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;
he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths
for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no evil;
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff—
they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
my whole life long.

Peace be with you.

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"The Christian life should resemble a fruit tree, not a Christmas tree.' - John Stott



I’d like you to humour me and imagine yourself as a tree – a fruit tree, in fact. Now you may find the idea ridiculous or perplexing - but why not just humour me for a few moments and try it out?

You are a fruit tree and you have just finished blossoming and now you are actually in fruit. I wonder what sort of fruit tree you have decided that you are? Are you an apple, a pear, a plum? Or something more exotic? I’m sure Freud would have a field day with our choices – but that’s not why I have suggested this little flight of fancy. No, I'd like to suggest that you use this image as a springboard for a prayerful meditation.

Because I'm not present to read this to you, you will need to read the following block of text through once or twice to get the idea and then I suggest you close your eyes and just picture it - let your imagination fly!

Imagine you are a fruit tree in God’s garden.
It’s early morning – the sun has risen and is bathing everything with a lovely glow.
Jesus walks into the garden and you see him as he walks along slowly, stopping to look at his plants and trees.
Then - oh - he is looking at you! Your leaves are a golden-green in the sunshine. You look healthy and you are bearing young fruit in your branches.
Jesus smiles at you and you feel his loving attention, his pleasure in you, his delight in you.
Listen now… Jesus is saying something to you.
Be quiet and listen to what he says.

Try not to read this next bit until you have done the meditation above!

Now you are yourself again - no longer a tree - but we've not finished yet. Just give your imagination one more work-out!

This time, imagine that you - as yourself - are walking in God’s garden with Jesus – companionably and contentedly browsing round the garden.
You both stop before a fruit tree.
Its leaves are a golden-green in the sunshine.
It looks very healthy and it is bearing young fruit in its branches.
You smile at Jesus and you talk together about the tree.
Be still for a moment and imagine your conversation with Jesus.

You might perhaps finish by thanking God for the time you have just spent - not washing up, not doing work, but just relaxing in God's presence.

If this way of praying feels strange to you, don't worry - using the imagination in prayer is an age-old method.

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One of the things I love about Ignatian spirituality is the encouragement to use our imagination in prayer. God has created us as whole beings - our imagination is just part of the person that we are - and part of God's creation. And we can use our God-given imagination to help us to grow in our spiritual lives. The Jesuits call this 'imaginative contemplation'. It is a way of meditative praying that can help to open us up to God.

This method of praying is used mostly with Gospel passages. This is how you might use it with one of the Jesus stories.

Find a quiet spot and read your chosen passage through a few times in order to familiarise youself with the story, but try not to learn any of it by rote. Ask yourself some questions: where was this happening; who was there; what sort of noises would I have heard; what would I have experienced had I been there.

Now close your eyes and allow the scene to unfold in your imagination. As the story unfolds, allow yourself to be in the scene as though your are one of the people there. Perhaps you speak or are spoken to? Go with it!

When you have finished, take a little time to thank God for your time of prayer. And you might find it helpful to jot down some notes to remind yourself later of your prayer time.

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From Luke chapter 10

Now as they (Jesus and those following him) went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’ But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’

One of the things I love about Ignatian spirituality is the encouragement to use our imagination in prayer. On a retreat at St Beuno's in Wales I was asked to read the above passage from Luke and, having read it through a few times in order to familiarise myself with the story, to then close my eyes and allow the scene to unfold in my imagination. As the story unfolds, I was to imagine myself in the scene - either as myself or as one of the people in the story.

You might like to try doing this. It is very informative - from the person you choose to be in the scene, to your interaction with Jesus (if any) and your response to Mary and/or Martha (of course, you might be one of them in your imaginative prayer).

Go on - give it a whirl - what have you to lose?


Words from Aelred of Rievaulx (who lived 1110-1167)

As long as we need to eat and drink we shall need to tame our flesh with watching, fasting and work. This is Martha's role. But in our souls there should also be Mary, that is, spiritual activity. For we should not always give ourselves to bodily efforts, but sometimes be still and see how lovely, how sweet the Lord is....You should in no wise neglect Mary for Martha; or again, Martha for Mary. For if you neglect Martha, who will feed Jesus? If we neglect Mary, what use is it for Jesus to come to your house, when you taste nothing of his sweetness?

Other interesting links along these lines:

Ways of Praying

St Beuno's on YouTube:

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... be there, sitting beside Jesus.

Matthew 11:28-30
‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’

Just for a moment…
…allow yourself to be there, sitting beside Jesus. He turns to you – yes - to you – and he says, ‘Come to me you that are weary and carrying heavy burdens and I will give you rest’.
As you look at Jesus, allow yourself to rest in his presence, knowing that you are held safely in his strong gaze, in his love and in his constancy.
You are held,
you are safe,
you are precious.

Whatever is going on in your life, Jesus knows and he is there.
Whatever is going on in your life, you are ultimately safe in his care.
Held safely in his strong gaze, in his love and in his constancy.
You are held,
you are safe,
you are precious.
Allow yourself to be: held, safe and precious.

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