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Praying the Scripture with Doodles/Drawings–Holy Week

April 24, 2015 by Sybil Macbeth 1 Comment Leave a Comment

For Holy Week I created a circle-a-day template to house a-word-a day from the daily Gospel readings from Palm Sunday through Holy Saturday. I suggested writing a three-sentence story to summarize the gleanings from the words. This idea can be used for any daily readings from Scripture, not just for special liturgical events.

Here are two examples from Holy Week:

The first is from Debbie Detten Huff. She describes her intent: “As I committed to walking the Holy Week’s readings and praying with them, I found that the words that
were shimmering for me were the ones that pointed to first Jesus’ love and patience for those around him and then the love shown to him. About mid-week, the phrases “where is the love?” and Mister Rogers’ “Look for the helpers” (when there is so much tragedy around that it can be overwhelming) became welcomed companions as I read these difficult readings.
Holy Week Debbie Detten Huff Resized

At the end of the week Debbie wrote her story:
“When troubled and wondering “where is the love?,” remain near, tethered to the one who cares deeply for you. Like a shepherd who tends his beloved sheep, he will wash your weary body, and raise and soothe your tired spirit. Follow him. . . he can be trusted.” 
Thank you, Debbie.

For my template I chose a word each day and first brainstormed about the word. Then I doodled, listened, and wrote other words that came to me. My words were a combination of strong verbs and visual nouns.

Holy Week 2015 Lectio Divina Resized

 

“Untie your hair and anoint the feet of the Holy One with perfume. He in turn serves you as a slave, washing and drying your feet with a towel. For this surprising humility and seeming weakness, we betray, mock, and crucify Him, unaware that no stone can contain or repress the power of this radical, unexpected God.”

 

 

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Filed Under: Praying in Color Tagged With: Holy Week, lectio divina, Praying in Color, praying Scripture

Holy Week Calendar and Meditation

March 24, 2015 by Sybil Macbeth 3 Comments Leave a Comment

Whether you have had successful weeks of Lenten discipline or you botched it early on, here’s an idea for a way to make the daily pilgrimage through Holy Week. Download the template below, spend some time with the Holy Week story, and meditate on a word a day. Follow the steps below or make up your own version.

To download the calendar template click: jpg version  OR   pdf version

Holy Week Calendar 2015 Resized

1) Read the Gospel for the day (listed below). Read it slowly–silently or aloud, maybe several times. Pay attention to each word.

2) Does one of the words jump out at you or shine brighter than others? If so, write it in the circle for the day. If not just choose any word from the reading and write it in the circle.

3) Write down things you know about the word. Listen to the word. Listen to what God might be saying to you through or about the word. As you listen and write, doodle or draw around the word. Invite your hand and your eyes into the meditation. Use just a pen or add color. If you need more space for writing words, use an additional piece of paper or a sticky note.

4) When you’ve finished writing and drawing, put down your pen and markers. Close your eyes, be still, and breathe for a minute or two. Don’t initiate words, but don’t keep words from coming. Let this be a time of alert contemplative prayer.

5) If it seems appropriate write a “tweet” about the word. For me it is a helpful way to collect my thoughts or to summarize what I learned from my time with the word. Keep the word nearby in your consciousness for the rest of the day.

6) On the next day, read the assigned Gospel and repeat the process in steps 1-5.

This exercise is an express version of a lectio divina. For a more detailed version see my March 1 post.

Here is an example for Monday of Holy Week from John 12:1-11. I chose the word perfume.

Holy Week Calendar Perfume 2015 Resized Holy Week Readings
Palm Sunday: Mark 11:1-11
Holy Monday: John 12:1-11
Holy Tuesday: John 12: 20-26
Holy Wednesday: John 13: 21-32
Maundy Thursday: John 13: 1-17; 31b-35
Good Friday: John 18:1-19:42
Holy Saturday: Matthew 27: 57-66

At the end of the week look at all of the words you picked. As a way to conclude your Holy Week time, see if you can write a 3-line story including all of the words.

 

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Filed Under: Praying in Color Tagged With: Holy Week, Holy Week readings, John 12:1-11, lectio divina, Praying in Color

Pray a Word of Scripture–Lectio Divina

March 1, 2015 by Sybil Macbeth 1 Comment Leave a Comment

One of my favorite spiritual practices–especially during Lent–is to use a single word of Scripture to start a conversation with God. This practice is called lectio divina–divine or sacred reading. Lectio Divina has four parts: Lectio, Meditatio, Oratio, and Contemplatio. My version of lectio divina involves doodling (of course). To try it, you will need about four pieces of paper and a pen. If you like to use color, grab some markers, colored pencils, or gel pens. The instructions and example below are from Praying in Black and White: A Hands on Practice for Men. 

1. Lectio means “to read.” Choose a line of scripture.
Example: You have fed them with the bread of tears; you have given them bowls of tears to drink. Psalm 80:5 (BCP)

Write the passage on a piece of paper. Write it large enough so you can really see it. Ask God to give you a word for the day. Read the passage over and over again until a word jumps out at you. When you have the word, circle it. (If no particular word cries out, just choose one at random.) I chose the word bread.

Lectio--Bread

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Meditatio means to “meditate, chew on, or mull over.” My favorite definition is “marinate.” Meditatio is about marinating in a word of Scripture.

First, take the word you chose in the lectio step and write it in the middle of a piece of paper. Write down everything you know about this word. Brainstorm. Write down anything that comes to mind, even if it seems silly or far-fetched. If images or stories come to mind, write them down.

Meditatio1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, take a new piece of paper. Write your word again in the middle of the page. This time don’t think about the word. Instead of teasing ideas out of your brain, listen to the word. Pretend it is a guest in your house. Let it speak to you. Listen for what God might say to you through the word. While you are listening, draw. Doodle around the word. Let the movement of the hand help you focus on the word and release anxiety. If you hear other things about the word, write them down. If the thoughts and words from the previous brainstorm come back to you, write them down again.

Meditatio2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Oratio means to speak or to pray. In this part of the lectio divina, talk to God in the more traditional way of prayer. This is a chance to use words and have a conversation with God. You can ask God about the word “What do you want me to hear and learn from this word?” Even though this step is about oral conversation, you can have my pen in hand and continue to draw. Write down your thoughts and questions: “Help my unbelief.” “I’d like to know you better.” “Open my heart.” While you talk and write, continue to draw. Drawing during this step helps me to focus and to listen. Writing helps me to see what I’m thinking and feeling.

Oratio

4.  Contemplatio means to “contemplate.’ This is the last step of lectio divina. I think of this step as the rest stop or the cool-down period before I go about the normal business of my life. Contemplatio is the step where I release the word I have chosen and all of the thoughts and feelings about the word. I give up all of the activity of drawing, thinking, and writing. I close my eyes, still my mind and rest.

So put down your pen. Sit in a chair or lie on the floor. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath and release it. Stay in the moment. Breathe. Some people have huge spiritual “Ahas” during this time. Other people just enjoy the rest and the quiet time with God. My time with lectio divina never feels wasted. Sometimes my understanding of the Scripture passage is informed by the time I spent with the word. Sometimes I learn something new about myself or about God. At the very least, I know more about the word I chose than ever before. And I never hear the word in exactly the same way again.

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Filed Under: Praying in Color Tagged With: lectio divina, Praying in Black and White: A Hands-On Practice for Men, praying with Scripture, Psalm 80:5

Pondering and Praying a Word at 35,000 Feet

December 16, 2014 by Sybil Macbeth 2 Comments Leave a Comment

One of the best and worst things about air travel is being trapped in a seat for several hours. I often accomplish more in the time in those cramped quarters than I do at home in a whole day. On a flight back home on the first Sunday of Advent I started to doodle just for fun in my 8″x10″ travel sketch pad. Then the refrain from Psalm 80 in the morning’s worship service came back to me. “Restore us, O God of hosts: show us the light of your countenance and we shall be saved.” The congregation repeated this Advent plea three different times.

From that passage the word RESTORE jumped out at me. I wrote RESTORE in the middle of my doodling page and started brainstorming and writing everything I could think of about the word. After I had exhausted all my words, I doodled around it. I tried to listen to what the word might have to say to me. What did I have to learn from the word? What did God want me to hear from it?

Two other flights followed during the first week of Advent. On both of those flights I pulled out the sketch pad with the word RESTORE on it and continued to brainstorm, then listen. If Scripture is living word, then what I hear from the word and what God might have to say to me about the word can be new each day. Below are the drawing and some reflections on the word RESTORE. Did God tell me these things? I don’t know, probably not. But I like to think this partnership with God, of me actively thinking and writing then actively listening, is an inspired time of pondering and prayer.

Airplane Lectio Divina Resized

Airplane Lectio Divina Days Resized

  • On day 2, I added the orange color and my marker leaked blobs of orange onto the word. I realized I could not RESTORE the drawing to its original condition. It occurred to me that RESTORATION does not necessarily mean replicating the past. Erasing errors is not always possible (and maybe not desirable.)
  • RESTORE can be a problematic word. It assumes there was a time when everything was perfect or so much better–which could be just a fantasy of my nostalgic mind.
  • Sometimes RESTORING a relationship with a person means being receptive to a whole new paradigm for the way we relate and behave together.
  • RESTORING a right relationship with God might mean giving up an old, comfortable understanding of God and listening to a more mature, more awesome understanding than I had before.
  • When God RESTORES me, I imagine myself as a piece of old furniture. God brings out the hidden good qualities and the natural beauty God sees and incorporates the damage, distress, and dings of my life into a new creation.

 

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Filed Under: Praying in Color Tagged With: lectio divina, Praying in Color, Psalm 80, Restoration, Restore

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