RETREAT I N DAILY LIFE: THRESHOLD
Welcome This is where we begin. However hesitant or confident hopeful or fearful familiar, or brand-new-lost there is something calling you someone calling you to pray. There is an old saying: The desire to pray is prayer. There is no way you can get this wrong. No way you can fail. For us, this feels like a threshold, a beginning -but we are just joining in what God began long ago. You are here because God calls you to this. You have said yes. Or maybe. Not no. And that is all that is needed. Say yes. Show up. And God will do the rest.
Deep within me a voice says: look for the face of God. Psalm 27.8
P REPARING What you will need Each week, we will send you resources to support your prayer. There is nothing else you need. But here are some thing you might want: •
a blank journal to write in & a pen you enjoy
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some coloured pens, or some watercolours
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a modern translation of the bible (the NRSV, the NJB or some other translation that doesn’t turn poetry to prose)
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a candle, a cross, an icon – something to help you mark this space and time as sacred.
Things to consider •
where will you pray? It helps to have a place where you go each day, where you will not be interrupted, where you can sit comfortably but alert.
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when will you pray? It helps to pray at the same time each day. Many people find early morning is best, but it is up to you. When can you find quiet?
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who will you tell? If you live with others, you will need to ask them to give you this time and space – to respect it, even if they don’t understand it. It can also to know there are others on the journey. If you would like a Prayer Partner or Spiritual Companion, ring Kimberly on 01472 822172.
Mediation 1: Threshold You will need 15- 30 minutes for this first time of prayer. Always read through the whole mediation and gather the things you need before you begin.
Begin (5 min) 1. Enter the space you have chosen for prayer. 2.
Sit up straight, as if you were on a swing, and either close your eyes or let your eyes rest on something (e.g. a candle or a flower).
3.
Breathe in and ask God to be with you. Pause your breath at the turning point and be still. Breathe out, and ‘blow away the air’. Let your shoulders drop and let go of the tensions you carry.
4.
Repeat once or twice, asking God to help you be present.
Look 1. Look at the picture of doors. Take your time. Notice colour and shape, and your own emotions. What do you see? spend as long as you need, longer than you think you need… 2.
Let your eye rest on one door – one that resonates, draws you in. How does it feel to be on the threshold? What is opening up for you? What feels locked or closed? Are there doors you want to shut behind you? Is there a door you want to walk through? Notice what you are feeling and sit with the reality of it. Keep breathing, and inviting God in.
3.
Jesus said: ‘Ask, and it shall be given to you. Seek and you shall find. Knock and the door shall be opened for you.’ (Matt 7.7) Sit with this phrase as long as you can - let God lead you.
4.
Draw the time of prayer to a close: tell God what you noticed, ask God for what you need. Give thanks for this time. ‘Return’ to the moment and place you are in.
R ETREAT IN D AILY L IFE : E NTERING S TILLNESS Introduction The desire to pray is prayer. But sometimes, it’s hard to sit still. The type of prayer we are exploring on this retreat is best learnt in stillness. It takes discipline to cease movement and distraction to become fully present to God. Our normal state is often busy, bored, distracted, defended. We need a transition between this, and the radical openness of prayer. Imagine it like the silence before the first note on in a piece of music, or the gentle swaying of the diving board before the leap. Stillness is how we get ready. If you already know how to find stillness, just do what you do. If you don’t, here are four ‘tools’ for you. These may or may not be prayer in their own right (if you are seeking God, then it is prayer). They are shared across religious traditions. These tools help us become present to the reality of the moment, so that we can notice what God is doing as we pray. You can use these throughout the four weeks. It’s best to choose one method each week and stick with it, so that it becomes easier. Indeed, if you find a method that works for you, you might stick with it forever. It is just a ‘way in’. Ideally, each method takes about 5 minutes, but they may take much longer as you are learning how.
Stillness Method 1: Breath 1. Enter your prayer space. Read through the meditation or bible passage for the day. Light a candle. Do what you need to do to get ready… 2.
Sit up straight, as if you were on a horse or swing. Stretch your arms, roll your shoulders, imagine a string holding up the back
top of your head, and let your chin drop. You are looking for a balanced position, in which you are ‘held up’. 3.
Become aware of your breath. Don’t try to change it. Just notice it
4.
If you feel tension, take a deep breath in through your nose. Let your breath pause at the turning point, feel it move through your body; then blow the air out through your mouth, as if you were blowing away the seeds of a dandelion. Repeat a few times.
5.
Let your breath return to normal. On an in breath, say, ‘O God, be present,’ on the next breath in: ‘help me be present to you’. (Change the phrase as you wish)
6.
When you are ready, begin the focus of your prayer.
Stillness Method 2: Colour Note: A small part of the population cannot visualise colour. You probably won’t know till you try, but if this doesn’t work for you after a few attempts, move on to another method.
1.
Begin as before: enter your space, get everything ready, find a balanced position, and take a few deep breaths.
2.
Your eyes will be closed for this, so no reading once you begin…
3.
This method is a way of learning to focus our attention: to put it where we want it, and to learn to keep it there. It can take a while, and may fill your half-hour the first time you try. Even when your are used to it, you probably won’t complete the whole visualisation – just move on into your prayer time whenever you have cast off distraction, and have quietened your mind.
4.
All you are going to do it visualize the colours of the rainbow, one at a time. For each colour: call it to mind, and let it fill your visual field. Rest in it. Notice what feelings it stirs, but ‘notice’ only to let the feeling occur – there is no need to name it, or tell a story about it. To chase off other words, you might want to ‘cling to’ the
name of your colour as you visualise it. See red, hold the word red in mind. See orange, hold the word orange. 5.
To get started with each colour, you will need to ‘begin’ somehow. Imagine yourself on a dark stage with a floodlight pouring coloured light onto you. Picture a red apple, an orange, a yellow flower… Start as you need to, but then get as close as you can to pure colour, without any object in the way.
6.
The first few times, just take the colours in order: Red – Orange – Yellow – Green – Blue – Indigo – Violet
7.
You may find some colours are easier than others. Start where you wish and linger where you can.
8.
Once you have found stillness, move on into the focus of your prayer.
Method 3: Body In this stillness exercise, our goal is to become aware of our bodies – to use the rhythm of our bodies to enter into prayer. As always, read this through first, and get the concept: you will want to keep your eyes closed throughout. 1.
Begin as before: enter your space, get everything ready, find a balanced position, and take a few deep breaths.
2.
Close your eyes and focus your attention on the sensations of your face: notice where the is tension, where it is relaxed; where you skin is warm or cool; where there is movement, what is still. Notice the air moving past your skin, anything you feel.
3.
As you notice the sensations in your face, ‘find’ your pulse: you might feel it in your eyes, or in your lips, or in the veins as they pass through your temple (this is the best one to hold onto if you can find it…).
4.
Focus on the beat, the rhythm, the hidden reality that gives life.
5.
Once you have settled to the rhythm, you are going to follow your pulse through your body. Let your attention move down through your neck, feel your pulse as is passes your clavicle, through your shoulders, on the inside of your elbows, through your wrists, and in the palm of your hands. Rest your attention there noticing all the sensations in your hands.
6.
If you wish follow the pulse in the same way, back into your torso, through you hips, down your legs, to your feet. (or skip to the next step)
7.
With your attention resting in your hands (step 5) or feet (step 6), begin to shift your focus so you feel the pulse throughout your whole body: unifying, holding you together, holding you in life.
8.
God is closer to us than we are to ourselves: the beat behind every beat, the pause between every motion, the resting place. Be present.
Stillness Method 4: Chant For this method, you will need to have learnt a song. There are suggested songs and links at walthamgroupchurches.co.uk. God is perfectly happy to hear the voice God gave you, whatever you think it sounds like.
1.
Begin as before: enter your space, get everything ready, find a balanced position, and take a few deep breaths.
2.
Begin to sing your chant. Sing slowly. Allow pause, or breath – you might not sing at the same tempo you would if you were singing with others but try for a steady rhythm.
3.
Let the sound fill you; let the breath carry you. Let the tune evolve, if you are so led. Rest in the song.
4.
After a while, let silence fall. Hear the song in your head till it goes. Let deeper silence fall. Then begin your prayer.
RETREAT WEEK 1: BEGIN Introduction Prayer is rooted in the fact that there is nowhere that God is not; no one to whom God is not present; no moment that exists outside of the eternal love of God. All of what we ‘do’ in prayer is about becoming present to this reality. We begin, therefore, by praying with stories from scripture. As we pray, we learn to recognise who God is, and how God shows up in the lives of those whom God calls. We learn to enter the stories and hear the voice of God for ourselves. During this retreat, most of our prayer time will be spent praying with scripture. But each week there will be one or two other offerings, that help us encounter God in different ways. You can use the material from the week in any order, and it is often wise to return to the same passage again and again. You don’t have to ‘finish’ everything. Just choose 2-3 meditations to focus on each week, and stay with them unless you have a strong sense that it is time to move on. Part of what we are offering on this retreat is methods of prayer. You may already know the methods. You may be encountering them for the first time. Either way: they are guides, not rules. Usually, prayer begin with a deliberate act of will (something we do), and then we get lost in it – stop our doing, and simply receive from the one who forms us.
‘Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you. (Jer. 1.5)
Praying with Scripture: Imaginative Prayer This way of praying is rooted in the Ignatian tradition. It works with any passage of scripture that is a narrative – a story with ‘characters’ and a beginning, middle and end. It is the main way of praying during this retreat.
1.
The night before: decide what you will pray. Choose the passage. Read it before bed so that your mind can play with it while you sleep.
2.
When you pray: you will need 20 – 30 minutes of silence. At first you may wish to set an alarm. Don’t worry if you don’t ‘finish’ a passage in a given time of prayer. If you finish too soon, either begin again (if it went far too fast), or sit in silence reflecting on what you experienced: but stay for the full time you have decided whatever you are experiencing. Just showing up and staying there is your bit of the bargain. God does the rest.
3.
Begin with one of the stilling exercises. This should take no more than a few minutes, once you’ve gotten used to them. Either before or after the stilling exercise: ask God to be with you. Ask for what you need.
4.
Read the passage you have chosen, and ‘learn’ the plot – where does it happen? Who are the main characters? What’s the first thing that happens? Then what? You may need to skim over the story as you pray, especially if it’s new to you, but learn it as best you can.
5.
Decide on a starting point. You are going to imagine the story as if it were happening all around you. And that means that at first, you might feel a bit like you are directing a film: which character are you going to ‘be’ (whose eyes are you seeing from?), where are you? How does it all begin?
6.
Set the scene. The first few minutes of this way of praying may feel very artificial. You need to spend some time ‘conjuring’ the setting: where are you (in the crowd, near Jesus, on the edges,
up a tree…)? what can you see? what can you hear, smell, taste, feel? What are the emotions you feel at this point in the story? 7.
Let the story run. Once you have ‘settled’ into the opening scene, let the story run – who says what? what are the side conversations you can hear? how are others behaving? what are they feeling? where is there conflict? where is there hope?
8.
Don’t worry: If the story departs from plan, if you are ‘making things up.’ Remember God is doing the work here. Maybe what you need to hear isn’t what Luke recorded, but what was said on the margins, or spoken silently, in a nameless character’s mind.
9.
If you get stuck: return to the passage. What happens next? Pick up the next bit of the story, and imagine your way in again.
10. Draw the scene to an end. A few minutes before your prayer time is over, draw the scene to an end (you might not be at the end of the story – just find a stopping point). Step ‘out of’ the scene, but stay still in prayer (probably with your eyes still closed). 11. Notice what you noticed. What happened for you in this time of prayer? When were the emotions strongest? Was anything difficult or surprising? Joyful or affirming? Notice where you got stuck. Imagine that Jesus is sitting with you, and talk about it. Is there anything you need to ask, or say to God? 12. Give thanks and return to the present moment. It’s as important to have a transition out of prayer as a transition in. Thank God for the gift of this time, know that you can come back tomorrow to anything unresolved, and draw the prayer time to a close.
If you are keeping a journal, skip lightly past stage 11 in prayer, do 12, then stand, stretch, and return to 11 as the focus of your writing.
Suggested Passages of Scripture: Week 1 Each week, 2 – 3 passages will be printed out in full, but we will offer other passages for you to consider, and to use in the future. Don’t try to read them all now. Just follow your instinct, and choose one or two for the week.
Themes:
beginnings, beloved, identity, call
Old Testament/ Hebrew Scriptures Gen 1
Creation (enjoy the beauty, hear God saying ‘it is good’)
Gen 3
Adam & Eve (trust, manipulation, blame, pain)
Exod 2.1-6
The birth of Moses (who helped you begin?)
Psalm 139
God knows us from before our birth
Isa 43.1-7
Do not fear for I have redeemed you
New Testament Lk 1.26-38
Gabriel comes to Mary to invite her ‘yes’
Lk 2.1-20
The birth of Jesus (do this in stages & as different characters)
Lk 2.41-50
Jesus worries his parents, stays in the temple to learn
Matt 3.13-17 Jesus’ baptism – ‘you are my beloved’ Matt 4.1-11
Jesus in the wilderness (who are you?)
John 2.1-12 The wedding at Cana (water into wine – is it time?) John 4.5-30 The woman at the well (being seen & known) Lk 5.1-11
Jesus calls Peter (awe & fear)
Lk 10.38-42
Mary & Martha (what roles do you choose?)
RETREAT IN DAILY LIFE: WEEK 1 MEDITATIONS This week is about beginnings: being created, beloved, called. We enter the stories of scripture to learn more deeply who God is, and who we are called to be. Please use the method in the leaflet, ‘Week 1: Begin.’
Mediation 1: The Birth of Moses Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid him three months. When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket for him, and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river. His sister stood at a distance, to see what would happen to him. The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it. When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him. “This must be one of the Hebrews’ children,” she said. Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Yes.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed it. When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and she took him as her son. She named him Moses, “because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.” Who will you be in this story? Linger in what you can see, hear, touch, feel.
Meditation 2: Gabriel comes to Mary In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.” But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born[c] will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her. consider praying this more than once: first as Mary, then as Gabriel.
Meditation 3: Jesus and the woman at the well Jesus came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.” Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!”
The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.” Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?” Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done!”
You may need to take this one in stages, over several days, or just get the shape of the story in your head, and imagine the encounter more freely.