invites to engage in Lectio Divina, or "sacred reading." Although there are essentially 4 movements: lectio (read), meditatio (reflect), oratio (respond), and contemplatio (rest) there truly are as many ways to creatively engage the bibical text through lectio divina as there are creative people who read the bible with not just their mind but their entire being. I'll guide you gently but I encourage you to surrender to God and listen to what you are "hearing with the ear of your heart." For each day ...
1. Read the text slowly. Breathe and listen deeply to the words. Focus your attention on the sense of the passage. What word or phrase is most full of meaning for you? Repeat your word or phrase several times, don’t project meaning now. Chew on it and let it sink into your soul. Take a deep breath and move on when you are ready ...
2. Read the text slowly again ... Reflect on your word or phrase as you pay attention to the still small voice of the text whispering to you, “Here I am, where are you?” How does this “meaning-full” word touch your life today? Take a deep breath and move on when you are ready ...
3. Read the text slowly again. How do you offer your prayers and your life to God today? Respond to God with prayers of ... praise, confession, gratitude, discernment, commitment ... whatever emerges from within you as you consider your desires and your needs. Take a deep breath and move on when you are ready …
4. Rest in the gentle silence of God's presence. Breathe in the love of God. As you move on, breathe out the love of God upon the world!
Luke 2:1-20 In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see--I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!" When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
Movement 1(Read) What word or phrase is most full of meaning for you?
Movement 2(Read and Reflect) How does this “meaning-ful” word touch your life today?
Movement 3(Read and Respond) How do you offer your prayers and your life to God today?
Movement 4(Rest)
Listen to Mary, Did You Know? on YouTube
John 1:1-14 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth.
Movement 1(Read) What word or phrase is most full of meaning for you?
Movement 2(Read and Reflect) How does this “meaning-ful” word touch your life today?
Movement 3(Read and Respond) How do you offer your prayers and your life to God today?
Movement 4(Rest)
Listen to I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light on YouTube
Matthew 2:13-23 Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him." Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, "Out of Egypt I have called my son." When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: "A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more." When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child's life are dead." Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, "He will be called a Nazorean."
Movement 1(Read) What word or phrase is most full of meaning for you?
Movement 2(Read and Reflect) How does this “meaning-ful” word touch your life today?
Movement 3(Read and Respond) How do you offer your prayers and your life to God today?
Movement 4(Rest)
Listen to It Came upon a Midnight Clear on YouTube
Matthew 25:31-46 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.' Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?' And the king will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.' Then he will say to those at his left hand, 'You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they also will answer, 'Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?' Then he will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
Movement 1(Read) What word or phrase is most full of meaning for you?
Movement 2(Read and Reflect) How does this “meaning-ful” word touch your life today?
Movement 3(Read and Respond) How do you offer your prayers and your life to God today?
Movement 4(Rest)
Listen to Christmas is all in the Heart on YouTube
Epiphany Sunday
Matthew 2:1-12 (CEV) When Jesus was born in the village of Bethlehem in Judea, Herod was king. During this time some wise men from the east came to Jerusalem and said, "Where is the child born to be king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." When King Herod heard about this, he was worried, and so was everyone else in Jerusalem. Herod brought together the chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses and asked them, "Where will the Messiah be born?" They told him, "He will be born in Bethlehem, just as the prophet wrote, 'Bethlehem in the land of Judea, you are very important among the towns of Judea. From your town will come a leader, who will be like a shepherd for my people Israel.' " Herod secretly called in the wise men and asked them when they had first seen the star. He told them, "Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, let me know. I want to go and worship him too." The wise men listened to what the king said and then left. And the star they had seen in the east went on ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. They were thrilled and excited to see the star. When the men went into the house and saw the child with Mary, his mother, they knelt down and worshiped him. They took out their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh and gave them to him. Later they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, and they went back home by another road.
Movement 1(Read) What word or phrase is most full of meaning for you?
Movement 2(Read and Reflect) How does this “meaning-ful” word touch your life today?
Movement 3(Read and Respond) How do you offer your prayers and your life to God today?
Movement 4(Rest)
Listen to We Three Kings on Youtube
Reflections on Advent and Christmas …and Epiphany
As people of God who are followers of Christ, empowered by the Spirit, we seek to live out and embody the reign of God in our lives today and everyday. What does this mean for you? How do you embody or "incarnate" the reign of God in your life?
In the midst of whatever stress you may experience in the "let-down" time after the Holiday season, which one of these Gospel "incarnation" stories did you need to hear? Through which one did God challenge you the most? How will you meet this challenge as you enter into 2011?
Renew your commitment to God and to God's purpose in the world as you read John Wesley's Covenant Prayer (adapted in today's language) and savor God's invitation to you. Read this prayer each day until it takes root in your heart!
John Wesley’s Covenant Prayer
I am no longer my own, but yours.
Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed for you or laid aside for you,
exalted for you or brought low for you.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to your pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
you are mine, and I am yours. So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth
let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment