meditate on Bible | The Contemplative Writer

Scripture Meditation: The Fear of the Lord and Contemplative Prayer

Posted on September 27, 2016September 26, 2016 by Ed Cyzewski

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; those who act accordingly have a good understanding; his praise endures forever.”
Psalm 111:10

While Jesus tells us to not be afraid, and Paul says that God has not given us a spirit of fear, the Psalms have a way of putting us in our place. Those who are wise rightly fear the Lord, even if God does not come to us with thunder and fire.

The gentleness and meekness of Jesus is much like the same approach of Moses, who veiled his face after seeing God’s glory. God does not seek our worship or reverence through intimidation, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t fear the holiness and power of God.

A healthy “fear” of the Lord keeps us humble and helps us see God’s love and mercy with greater clarity and gratitude.

For Reflection

Book of the Month: The Way of the Heart

Posted on September 26, 2016September 26, 2016 by Ed Cyzewski

Week Four: Finding God in Silence…

Perhaps you’ve hoped, prayed, and waited for God to speak or you’ve spoken many words in your pursuit of God. Henrí Nouwen writes that God is present in the silence and that our pursuit of silence may be one of the surest paths to God.

While acknowledging the place of speaking and teaching, Nouwen reminds us that our words can often get us in trouble. James assured us that the tongue is a restless evil that the Desert Fathers and Mothers sought to overcome by “fleeing” the use of many words.

Out of this pursuit of silence, they found freedom to speak less but with greater insight and awareness of God.

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“Silence is the way to make solitude a reality. The Desert Fathers praise silence as the safest way to God.”

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“The Word of God is born out of the eternal silence of God, and it is to this Word out of silence that we want to be witnesses.”

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“Speaking gets us involved in the affairs of the world, and it is very hard to be involved without becoming entangled in and polluted by the world.”

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“Sometimes it seems that our many words are more an expression of doubt than of our faith. It is as if we are not sure that God’s Spirit can touch the hearts of people: we have to help him out and, with man words, convince others of his power.”

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“In order to be a ministry in the Name of Jesus, our ministry must also point beyond our words to the unspeakable mystery of God.”

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Reflection

Scripture Meditation: God Expects Lament

Posted on September 13, 2016September 10, 2016 by Ed Cyzewski

“Why do you hide your face?
Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?”
Psalm 44: 24, NRSV

The writer of this Psalm of lament notes in the the earlier verses that God surely would know if he had lifted his hands to worship another God. It’s just as likely that God wouldn’t be surprised to hear the laments of his people in the midst of their suffering.

Of course God doesn’t literally hide from us or forget our suffering. In our darkest moments it can surely seem that God is distant and hidden, but even if these remain impossible things for God to do, the Spirit guided these poets to share their laments, frustrations, and fears in the starkest language possible.

What do you fear today about God?

What do you leave unspoken about God?

What if today you could be completely honest with God?

It’s possible that the scriptures telling us about God’s knowledge of our thoughts can assure us. God knows our deepest laments and fears but continues to reach out to anyone who is thirsty and heavy-burdened.

For Reflection

Saturday Prayer

Posted on September 3, 2016August 27, 2016 by Ed Cyzewski

Today’s prayer comes from the Common Prayer app:

Soul of Christ, sanctify me;
body of Christ, save me;
blood of Christ, inebriate me;
water from the side of Christ, wash me;
passion of Christ, strengthen me.
O good Jesus, hear me;
within your wounds hide me;
suffer me not to be separated from you;
from the malicious enemy defend me;
in the hour of my death call me,
and bid me come to you
that with your saints I may praise you
forever and ever. Amen.

Find more prayers in Common Prayer

Scripture Meditation: Responding to God with Silence

Posted on August 30, 2016November 26, 2016 by Ed Cyzewski

O LORD, I am not proud; I have no haughty looks. I do not occupy myself with great matters, or with things that are too hard for me. But I still my soul and make it quiet, like a child upon its mother’s breast, my soul is quieted within me.
Psalm 131:1-3

Do you believe that God desires to nurture, protect, and guide you? Can you accept that God desires you to rest like a child resting with his/her mother?

Stillness and quiet are appropriate, even essential responses to God.

For Reflection

Scripture Meditation: Waiting on God’s Generousity

Posted on August 23, 2016November 26, 2016 by Ed Cyzewski

Jesus taught in the parable of the vineyard laborers:

“Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?”
Matthew 20:15, RSV

Envy will dismantle the patience that is growing within us, robbing us of the joy of God’s blessings when they finally come to us. God is generous, but we all experience that generosity in different ways and at different times.

God’s generosity will not spare us seasons of darkness and doubt. It’s possible that waiting helps us view his generosity with greater clarity.

For Reflection

Friday Favorites for Prayer and Writing

Posted on July 8, 2016July 2, 2016 by Ed Cyzewski

Each Friday I share some of my favorite finds related to praying or writing. If I think it could help you pray or write better, then I’ll include it below.

Do you have someone else’s article or post to share? Join the Contemplative Writers Facebook group, comment on today’s post on my Facebook page, or follow me on Twitter (@edcyzewski) to nominate your favorite articles, blog posts, and books by Thursday at noon each week.

7 Ways Thomas Merton Changed the World

Letters from a Devastated Artist

How J.R.R. Tolkien Found Mordor on the Western (A powerful story of how writing can help us face the worst parts of the world.)

How to Create an Internal Mindset Conducive to Writing

The Slowest, Best Conversion (My guest post for Emily P. Freeman, whose blog and books I highly recommend!)

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Contemplative Profiles: Brother Lawrence

Posted on June 23, 2016June 21, 2016 by Ed Cyzewski

We best know Brother Lawrence as an unassuming monk who worked hard in a monastery kitchen doing menial chores. It was hardly a step up from his previous occupation in the army, which he only joined because he had grown up in poverty. While serving as a soldier he had a spiritual experience that eventually sent him to a monastery.

Lawrence spent his days contemplating the love of God while washing pots and pan, running errands, and cleaning the kitchen. I have personally benefitted from his writings since I’m the person who washes the dishes in our home, but his example of inviting God to join him in the simplest of tasks is a powerful reminder of how to practice God’s presence today.

This profile in Christian History includes the following quotes from Brother Lawrence:

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Lawrence writes, “Men invent means and methods of coming at God’s love, they learn rules and set up devices to remind them of that love, and it seems like a world of trouble to bring oneself into the consciousness of God’s presence. Yet it might be so simple. Is it not quicker and easier just to do our common business wholly for the love of him?”

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“We can do little things for God; I turn the cake that is frying on the pan for love of him, and that done, if there is nothing else to call me, I prostrate myself in worship before him, who has given me grace to work; afterwards I rise happier than a king.”

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“As often as I could, I placed myself as a worshiper before him, fixing my mind upon his holy presence, recalling it when I found it wandering from him. This proved to be an exercise frequently painful, yet I persisted through all difficulties.”

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Featured Article: Christian Contemplation Leads Us to Community

Posted on June 22, 2016June 21, 2016 by Ed Cyzewski

There are many misconceptions surrounding contemplative prayer, and perhaps one of the most damaging has been the belief that contemplative prayer is self-centered or self-emptying, disconnecting us from others. However, the Christian contemplative tradition aims to make us more aware of God’s loving presence.

For Christians, God is a loving trinitarian relationship that we participate in because of our adoption by Jesus. Contemplative prayer helps us clear away distractions in order to be more fully present for God’s love, and once we have been impacted by God’s love, we are in a better position to love and serve others. In fact, the desert fathers and mothers were often sought out for their wisdom and advice. Their greatest ministry followed their solitude and contemplation!

In this featured blog post, Carl McColman shares how contemplation has become distorted in some circles as a purely individual pursuit and then offers helpful clarification:

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“Christian mysticism actually involves relationship in its most intense form — because it is a trinitarian expression of relationship: relationship with God, relationship with self, relationship with others. All three are necessary for Christian mysticism. For Christians, all three forms of love are necessary for contemplation.”

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“It’s a paradox: we retreat into the inner room (including the solitude of silent prayer) not to escape from relationships, but rather to deepen relationships: all relationships (with God, self, and others). When we directly cultivate our relationship with God (as we do during contemplative prayer), we are simultaneously cultivating our capacity for authentic care of self and compassionate love of others. We are called into the silence but then led out of the silence, a rhythm similar to all the great rhythms of life: breathing in/breathing out, the heart beating/resting; work and Sabbath, day and night, summer and winter. Life is an alternating current: and so is the mystical life. We sink into solitude only to be sent forth into relationship.”

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Friday Favorites

Posted on June 10, 2016June 8, 2016 by Ed Cyzewski

Each Friday I share some of my favorite finds related to praying or writing. If I think it could help you pray or write better, then I’ll include it below.

The Human Cost of Digital Technology

Confessions of a Media Protective Parent

Is Contemplation Dangerous?

I Once Was Lost and Now Am Lost Again…

Productivity Apps for Busy Writers

From Ed’s Blog: Evangelicals Need to Sit in a Room and Say Nothing for a Long Time