Lectio to go

By Nancy Shuman

 


If I am to live "immersed in lectio" (i.e. in scripture), I must learn to take it with me wherever I go.  This is obviously a process, an "art" that cannot be mastered overnight.   

Years ago, I learned a way of carrying at least a touch of lectio with me... a way to cart chunks of the Bible around as I work and drive and (especially) face into the storms of life.  In recent weeks, I've been re-learning the value of this "portable lectio."  It does not replace time apart with God, for I need time with my Bible open and with my mind as concentrated as possible.  But I am greedy enough to want scripture with me, wherever I go.  I want God's word to shape me.  To mold my attitudes, soothe my worries and calm my fears.  I want scripture to form my thinking.  I want to carry it with me as much as possible.  So, in addition to taking with me parts of scripture that jumped out at me "this morning," I also memorize.  

Someone asked me, years ago, why anyone would bother memorizing verses of scripture when Bibles were so readily available?  Because, I answered, there may come a time when I might not have ready access to one.  I wasn't necessarily referring to anything apocalyptic, but to any times when I might want to "read" the Bible and wouldn't have one right in my hand.  Like once when I spent an hour in an MRI "tube" with nothing to think about but the blangs and clangs swirling around my head.  I was thankful, then, to have memorized a few chapters of scripture.  I practiced lectio right there, holding a mental, silent conversation with God as I lay in my metal enclosure....


Read the rest at Nancy's blog The Cloistered Heart.

Mary pondered all these things--do you?

by Connie Rossini

The presentation of Christ in the Temple by Duccio (photo in public domain).

There are many types of devotion to Mary. Carmelites honor Mary by imitating her. In particular, they imitate her way of meditating on the great things that God has done.

Luke’s Gospel tells us twice that “Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.” She was the first contemplative Christian.  What did she ponder? What God had done for her, and what He was doing in and through her Son.

Here are some concrete ways you can live a more contemplative life, following Mary’s example:

Pray with the Scriptures

Read a short passage from the Bible. Imagine yourself as part of it. Listen to what the Holy Spirit wants to teach you through the passage. Then talk to God about it. This is known as Christian meditation, and is one form of mental prayer. Make the Gospels your primary source for meditation. Center it on Christ, as Mary did.

Study the Bible

Use a good Catholic commentary or study Bible to help you dig deeper into Scripture. The Navarre Bible contains a good mix of background information, theology, and practical helps for your spiritual life.

Memorize Bible verses

You must repeat a verse over many times in order to memorize it. Let it sink deeply into your mind and heart. Then quote it to yourself or aloud at appropriate times.



Continue reading at Connie's blog  Contemplative Homeschool.

Spiritual idiolects: No language gap

by Nancy Shuman

Pentecost (artist unknown; photo in Public Domain).

  

The term 'spiritual ideolect' is becoming part of my everyday thought, particularly in relation to the life of heart-cloister.  To refresh our memory (and so we don't have to keep looking it up), I'll return to the explanation presented by Connie Rossini: 'Everyone has an idiolect--a collection of personal speech habits that is different from anyone else's. Have you ever thought about your spiritual idiolect?  Since your soul is unique, you have a personal way of speaking to God that no one else completely shares.'

How does this relate to cloister of the heart?  I would say that we each have a particular way of living for God and speaking with God in the midst of the world... yet if we are bent on genuinely following God's will, we have the same Homeland and the same 'mother tongue.'   We use similar terminology, but we might think of it a bit differently.  For instance, when I use the word 'grille,' I generally picture a panel made of crisscrossed wooden latticework.  You may think of something in a wrought iron swirly pattern.

Yet when we go on to speak of seeing all things through this, and when we compare that to looking at life through the will of God, the same basic idea comes into play for both of us. 

The important thing - the thing that does not change - is that we are both choosing to view and respond to persons and circumstances as God instructs.  That is: according to Scripture and the authentic teachings of the Church.

Our friend 'Chloe,' on the other hand (a fictional person), might decide to primarily base her conduct on the counsel of a Hollywood celebrity.  While there may be no conflict (at times) between Scripture and the latest opinions of a television host, the host's words are not what we are called to live by.  Even when they're clever, humanitarian, and look nice embroidered on a pillow, the star's words will never be our grillwork.  Only Scripture and the teachings of the Church could ever make that claim.  Chloe might say that she is living as God wants, but if she never looks into Scripture or Church teaching to be sure, and if she's choosing to follow something other than these, her interpretation of  'as God wants' is not the same as ours.  There is a language gap.


Continue reading at Nancy's blog  The Cloistered Heart.

"Do you love me?" the Lord asks you

by Heidi

 

Jesus Returning the Keys to Peter  by Ingres (Photo: Wikimedia)

Do you pray with the Scriptures?  When you read them, do you allow a word or a scene from the passage to speak to you in your heart and draw out from you a prayer?  It is essential for each of us enter into prayer in this way.  Yet, it is a direction that many "voices" - from the world, and from your own ego - will dissuade you from; because it will reveal your idols, your weaknesses.  The Lord seeks to lead us out of those "Egypts" in each one of our souls.  To do so demands much; it demands a love that endures all things, hopes all things and to be completely truthful, I do not have that love yet.  That is important for me to understand, not for me to despair but so that I can live in His truth, endure in His light and be drawn up into a more perfect love by following His voice.  

Consider this passage from John 21: 1-19:


               When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of
               John, do you love me more than these?”  Simon Peter answered him, “Yes,
               Lord, you know that I love you.”  Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He
               then said to Simon Peter a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love
               me?”  Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
               Jesus said to him,“Tend my sheep.”  Jesus said to him the third time, “Simon,
               son of John, do you love me?” Peter was distressed that Jesus had said to
               him a third time,‘Do  you love me?’ and he said to him, “Lord, you know
               everything; you know that I love you.”  Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.
               Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress
               yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch
              out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do
              not want to go.” He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify
              God. And when he had said this, he said to him, “Follow me.”


I need to live in His truth, I need to know who I am and  who I am called to be in His truth.  I need it desperately, and our whole culture is dying for lack of this truth.  In this Gospel, through the questions of Jesus, Peter is taken back into the bitter, memory of his betrayal of the Lord, in order to receive the profound, unfathomable mercy of Jesus so that he can be drawn up into His perfect love. What courage this takes!  We, who are so easily offended, we, who so often confess our failings in a self-justifying context, are also taken through the drama of the Lord's threefold questioning of Peter.


Continue reading Heidi's reflection at  Journey to Wisdom. 

Like the sound of a great Amen

by Nancy Shuman

Sketch by Francesco Vanni (Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons).

"Exult, you just, in the Lord ... sing to Him a new song; pluck the strings skillfully, with shouts of gladness.."  (Psalm 33:1 & 3)

I read this scripture with a sigh.  Loving to sing, I can't carry a tune in the proverbial bucket. Although I savor the sounds of harpsichords and pianos and cellos and harps, I myself am no plucker of strings.

Even with no musical talent, however, I find singing to be a path into prayer.  I like to pray with psalms, using the words as a springboard to my own conversations with God.  "I will extol you," I read in Psalm 145... and so I do.  I begin to thank Him for His goodness and kindness and mercy (this can go on for some time before I turn again to what I'm reading).  And when I feel pretty sure no one is within hearing distance, I just might burst into song.  Sometimes using a tune I know, sometimes making up my own, I sing to God of His wonders.  I set thanksgivings and praises to music; I may even bring intercession into the song.  It somehow opens my heart to do this, and helps unlock the door to conversation with God.

The psalms are a springboard into prayer for me.  And music, even if I keep my singing "on the inside," is my personal amen. 
 
"I do not know what I was playing,
Or what I was dreaming then,
But I struck one chord of music
Like the sound of a great Amen."  (A. Proctor)


This reflection was originally posted by Nancy Shuman on The Breadbox Letters.  Like our Facebook page to follow both of Nancy's blogs, plus more of our members.