Posted on by Kurt Bodling

real knowing

“The life of increasing interiority has as its hallmark what I call contemplative knowing. This knowing comes about only by sitting with, and working through, the various experiences of our lives. Both the sitting with and working through are essential to the process, allowing for the development of resilient, open vulnerability, so necessary for our way of life.”

Bede Healey. “Psychological Investigations and Implications for Living Together Alone.” in Belisle, Peter-Damian, editor. The Privilege of Love: Camaldolese Benedictine Spirituality. (Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 2002), page 121.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

meditating on Jesus’s suffering

Note:
Luther here uses ‘contemplation’ and ‘meditation’ as synonyms. But the main point here is that meditation, by whatever name, is of more benefit to us than any amount of external works can be. Meditation changes our hearts. Even just 15 minutes of real meditation on Christ’s betrayal, arrest, trials, torture, crucifixion is way more beneficial than any spiritual disciplines, says Luther.

Quote:
“We say without hesitation that he who contemplates God’s sufferings for a day, an hour, yes, only a quarter of an hour, does better than to fast a whole year, pray a psalm a day, yes, better than to hear a hundred masses. This meditation changes a man’s being and, almost like baptism, gives him a new birth.”  (page 11)

Source: Luther, Martin. “A Meditation on Christ’s Passion” (1519) Luther’s Works Vol. 42. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

God inspires true meditation

Note:
As many of us continue to meditate on the events of the original Holy Week, it’s helpful to know that our meditations are not generated from within our own hearts (not if they are of any benefit to us). So if you’re just “not feeling it” it won’t help if you “make an effort” or “dig deep.”

Meditation that benefits us comes by way of an inspiration of God. Which is, by the way, good to remember the other 51 weeks of the year, too.

Quote:
“Unless God inspires our heart, it is impossible for us of ourselves to meditate thoroughly on Christ’s passion.”  (page 11)

Source: Luther, Martin. “A Meditation on Christ’s Passion” (1519) Luther’s Works Vol. 42. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

God for ME (and for YOU)

Note:
This short line appears with the editor’s footnote that “Ever more pronounced from this point on is Luther’s emphasis on the pro me, pro nobis (“for me, for us”), reflecting the personal aspect of faith which Luther himself experienced and now expressed in all his writings.” His theology was not dry academic theology, in other words.

As we are here entering Holy Week, perhaps you can meditate a moment on how the events the first Palm Sunday through Easter happened for you.

Quote:
“Of what help is it to you that God is God, if he is not God to you?”  (page 8)

Source: Luther, Martin. “A Meditation on Christ’s Passion” (1519) Luther’s Works Vol. 42. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

one view of prayer

Note:
Prayer in this telling is first and foremost asking for (spiritual) stuff, or expressing our desires to God. It isn’t here the sitting with God that we read about in present-day spiritual literature (note that the source of this quote is over 100 years old!). Meditation, as a subclass of prayer, is described at the end of the quote.

Quote:
“An act of the virtue of religion which consists in asking proper gifts or graces from God. In a more general sense it is the application of the mind to Divine things, not merely to acquire a knowledge of them but to make use of such knowledge as a means of union with God. This may be done by acts of praise and thanksgiving, but petition is the principal act of prayer.”

“It is therefore the expression of our desires to God whether for ourselves or others. This expression is not intended to instruct or direct God what to do, but to appeal to His goodness for the things we need….

“Meditation is a form of mental prayer consisting in the application of the various faculties of the soul, memory, imagination, intellect, and will, to the consideration of some mystery, principle, truth, or fact, with a view to exciting proper spiritual emotions and resolving on some act or course of action regarded as God’s will and as a means of union with Him. In some degree or other it has always been practised by God-fearing souls.”

Source: Wynne, John. “Prayer.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

meditate like a bee

Note: Barban clarifies the parts of meditatio with a nice animal metaphor. In lectio we read the Bible, and in meditatio Scripture reads us. It’s important for us to store up Scripture texts, as a bee stores honey.

Quote:
“In the Christian monastic tradition, meditatio is not primarily a technique for emptying the soul. Meditation is an exercise in attentiveness, purification, and concentration, but its primary goal is the fullness or maturation of God’s Word within us. According to the most ancient tradition, meditation is biblical. And in lectio divina, three important ‘moments’ constitute meditatio: the ant’s work, the bee’s work, and discernment.

“The ant’s work is to harvest the food. Our food is God’s Word. … [then hammer at the keystone center of the text]. One who is more familiar with Scripture will have the advantage of recalling a greater number of texts.

“We must not only harvest our food, but also work with it like a bee. …. In other words, the monk’s work is to meditate, i.e., to reveal the hidden sense of Scripture, to produce the honey of evangelical wisdom. Monastic tradition calls this second step of meditation ruminatio. …

“God’s Word entering our lives begins a work of discernment, of purification, of krisis–transformation and conversion. Whereas with lectio we read Scripture, during meditatio God’s Word ‘reads’ us. This can prove a painful process.” (pp. 56-57)

Source: Barban, Alessandro. “Lectio Divina and Monastic Theology in Camaldolese Life” in Belisle, Peter-Damian, editor. The Privilege of Love: Camaldolese Benedictine Spirituality. Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 2002.