A Time for All Things: Lectio Divina: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Contemplative at Home
A 22-minute audio guided meditation in the contemplative Christian tradition. Ecclesiastes Chapter 3 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and...
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Teresa of Avila: The Second Dwelling: Lectio Divina
Contemplative at Home
A 24-minute audio guided meditation with an excerpt from The Second Dwelling by Teresa of Avila, in the contemplative Christian tradition. Teresa of Avila's feast day is on the 15th of October, so I wanted to revisit her words in meditation this week. I have selected a few phrases from the Mirabai Starr translation of the Interior Castle that caught my attention. Teresa pictured the soul, the inner self, as a castle which was comprised of many dwellings. At the centre of the soul, in what she refers to as the seventh dwelling, the Spirit of God resides or dwells or abides. Teresa...
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Come and Follow: Imaginative Contemplation: Mark 1:16-22
Contemplative at Home
A 26-minute audio guided meditation in Mark’s Gospel, in the contemplative Christian tradition. Mark 1:16-22 (this is a mix of NRSV, TLB, the Message and one or two of my own phrases...which I believe are true to the text!) "As Jesus was walking along the shores of the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew fishing with nets. Fishing was what they did for work. And Jesus called out to them "Come and follow after me! Come and walk in my way. I will make you into fishers of people." Immediately they left their nets and followed him. A bit further up the beach, Jesus saw...
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Jesus came to Galilee: Imaginative Contemplation: Mark 1:14-15
Contemplative at Home
A 22-minute audio guided meditation in Mark’s Gospel, in the contemplative Christian tradition. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’ Mark 1:14-15 We pray with this very short section of text today, because I was struck by the dramatic tension between John's arrest and Jesus launching forward into his proclamation of the good news, the good tidings! That the kingdom of God is at hand. It is a tiny foreshadowing...
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The Spirit : Lectio Divina : Mark 1:9-13
Contemplative at Home
A 23-minute audio guided meditation in Mark’s Gospel, in the contemplative Christian tradition. Baptism, Spirit, Dove, "Beloved", Wilderness, Angels. Mark is sparse with his story telling - the pointed highlights only, sharp and quick fire. But it's all here: Spiritual awakening, the voice and presence of God, the immediate expulsion to the wilderness, the angels in the wilds. May these familiar words fall on you afresh, may one word touch your story in a new way for this season. May you meet the Beloved yourself. Blessings as you pray. offers guided meditative prayer – space to...
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Prepare the Way : Lectio Divina : Mark 1:1-4
Contemplative at Home
A 22-minute audio guided meditation in Mark’s Gospel, in the contemplative Christian tradition. The beginning of the good news.... As it was written in the prophet Isaiah, "See! I am sending my messenger ahead of you... the voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight" (From Mark 1:1-4) We prayed with Mark 1:1-8 last week, but I wanted to come back to these opening verses, to linger longer, to give you space to dive deeper and allow them to open more fully in you. What would it mean in your inner being to prepare the way of the Lord, to...
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A Baptism for Metanoia : Lectio Divina : Mark 1:1-8
Contemplative at Home
An 18-minute audio guided meditation in Mark’s Gospel, drawing on the contemplative Christian tradition. John the Baptiser appears in the wilderness with clarity of mind and heart and speech. He offers those who come the "baptism of metanoia". Metanoia comes from two greek words: 'meta' which means after or beyond and 'noein' which means perception or way of thinking. There is an invitation to step into a whole new understanding of yourself, the Spirit, and your role in the world. We can think of it as 'life change'. It is often translated as 'repentance'. In this meditation we also...
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Meditation: The Gifts of Spring
Contemplative at Home
A 22-minute audio guided meditation, referencing Isaiah 43. Spring is a season of new beginnings, new life, renewal and hope. As the northern spring begins to find its stride, birdsong and flowering bulbs hint at a waking world. In this meditation you are invited to imagine yourself in this 'waking world' -to breathe in this new life, and to listen to what this first flush of generative energy may have to say to you. "See I am doing a new thing - now it springs up - do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness, a stream in the barren land." Isaiah 43:19 Are you ready to...
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Pause for Christmas Eve - A Guided Meditation
Contemplative at Home
This 16-minute guided meditation invites you to review your Advent meditations, to hold silence on the threshold between Advent and Christmas, and to imagine God's new life being born again within you. Dear Ones--- This guided meditation is for anyone who has been praying throughout Advent and would like to hold a moment of stillness between the longing and hope of Advent, and the celebratory feast of Christmas. You are invited to be still, to wait, to remember, to imagine. We are held in the paradox between what is and what is to come, the paradox between our poverty, our dependence, our...
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God's Deepening Life in Me: Lectio Divina: Teachings of St Ignatius
Contemplative at Home
A 22-minute audio guided meditation with the teaching of St Ignatius. "I want and I choose what better leads to God's deepening life in me." Last week we had a meditation on the and today I offer you a meditation with a more contemporary translation of the text. You may find this translation easier to connect with in places. The closing phrase "I want and choose what better leads to God's deepening life in me" comes to me regularly, offering a rudder as I navigate questions of discernment or direction. I hope you'll find a phrase or two here that nourishes you. Blessings as you pray....
info_outlineA 19-minute guided meditation using gentle physical movement (yoga), breath and the Ignatian Examen.
Ignatius of Loyola taught his followers that the one prayer they could never eliminate from their daily practice, is the prayer of review, or the Examen.
As Teresa of Avila (who for some time had a Jesuit confessor) said "I've gone on and on, here and elsewhere, about the damage we do to ourselves by failing to cultivate humility and self-awareness. Just remember: it is your most important task." - The Interior Castle, First Dwelling, translation by M Starr
The Examen invites us to look back over the day, to notice when we felt most alive in Love, and when we felt least alive in Love, to see how God was travelling with us throughout the day, and to intentionally ask God to be near us tomorrow.
I personally find end of day prayer so difficult. I am usually well past the point of attentive concentration by the time I've settled the house and the teenagers and am getting myself in the direction of bed.
What does help me, however, is bringing some physical movement or embodiment to my prayer.
Here for the first time, I am incorporating some simple yoga postures into an audio meditation. So this mediation is a little bit different. It is yoga asana (postures), breath awareness and the prayer of examen all folded together. This is something like my own personal practice, and I hope you find it helpful.
You may be helped by a couple of rolled or folded blankets to hand, and I recommend moving through these postures on the floor rather than on your mattress. You don't need special clothes or a mat, just come as you are.
This prayer is traditionally prayed at the end of the day, but if the end of the day doesn't work for you, feel free to pray it at noon, or 4pm, or just before or after dinner, or in the morning. Find what works for you in this particular season and go with that.
Blessings, blessings, blessings.
And much love
Lissy
Contemplative at Home offers guided meditative prayer - space to slow down and listen to the truth that is being born out of God's love for you today - drawing on Ignatian spirituality and at times, Lectio Divina. Lissy Clarke is a Spiritual Director and yoga teacher (200CYT).
Sign up for Lissy's monthly-ish newsletter "The Contemplative Window" for more contemplative nourishment, and to find out about any upcoming retreats.
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All music by Pete Hatch.