This Sunday (May 27th), we discussed and practiced Ignatian Contemplation, or Imaginative Prayer. This Jesuit spiritual practice is my favorite. Here is the introduction I passed out to our group.
Ignatius was convinced that God can speak to us as surely through our imagination as through our thoughts and memories. In the Ignatian tradition, praying with the imagination is called contemplation. In the Exercises, contemplation is a very active way of praying that engages the mind and heart and stirs up thoughts and emotions. (Note that in other spiritual traditions, contemplation has quite a different meaning: it refers to a way of praying that frees the mind of all thoughts and images.)
Ignatian contemplation is suited especially for the Gospels. In the Second Week of the Exercises, we accompany Jesus through his life by imagining scenes from the Gospel stories. Let the events of Jesus’ life be present to you right now. Visualize the event as if you were making a movie. Pay attention to the details: sights, sounds, tastes, smells, and feelings of the event. Lose yourself in the story; don’t worry if your imagination is running too wild. At some point, place yourself in the scene.
Contemplating a Gospel scene is not simply remembering it or going back in time. Through the act of contemplation, the Holy Spirit makes present a mystery of Jesus’ life in a way that is meaningful for you now. Use your imagination to dig deeper into the story so that God may communicate with you in a personal, evocative way.
We might initially worry about going beyond the text of the Gospel. If you have offered your time of prayer to God, then begin by trusting that God is communicating with you. If you wonder if your imagination is going “too far,” then do some discernment with how you are praying. Where did your imagining lead you: Closer to God or farther away? Is your imagining bringing you consolation or desolation?
Some people find imaginative prayer difficult. They may not be able to picture the scene easily, yet they may have some intuition or gut reaction to the story. Or they may hear or feel the story more than visualize it. In a spirit of generosity, pray as you are able; don’t try to force it. Rest assured that God will speak to you, whether through your memory, understanding, intellect, emotions, or imagination.
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We used Mark 4:35-41, Jesus calming the storm, as our Scripture reading, and did a "guided contemplation." It struck me - and I mentioned this to the group - that this practice of Ignatian contemplation has a similarity to taking a trip to Israel. I have never gone to Israel myself, but I have many friends and relatives who have, and they have found it transforming. My dad, when he and my mom went to Israel years ago, said, "It was like coming home." After years of study and preaching the Bible, he knew the places so well that they felt familiar. I've read accounts of others who have gone to Israel, and happened to have spoken to a friend just last week who went to Israel. They talk about the way that being on those roads, in those hills, at those places of the Bible stories makes them more real, more "3-D."
For me, Ignatian contemplation does that. I read the story, then use my imagination to play it, kind of like a 3-D movie where I am in it, in my mind. For this session, we read the story of Jesus in the boat with his disciples, falling asleep, the "furious squall" coming, the disciples waking Jesus, asking, "Don't you even care?!", Jesus speaking "Be still," calming the winds and waves, and the disciples' terrified reaction, "Who is this man?!" Then we stilled ourselves, closed our eyes, and I slowly spoke through the story, as if I were one of the disciples. I tried to use our five senses to help with imagining the story. The smell of the sea, the sound of the boats - that clanking kind of noise you hear when boats are rocking on the waves -, the darkening sky, the feel of cold water as it sloshed over the sides of the boat, the cold wind and rain blowing furiously against us, the fear, and the feeling of wonder that Jesus could sleep through it, as if he didn't even care, then that awe-struck, terrified reaction to his ability to calm the storm with just his words, the feeling when he asks, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"
We reflected on what stood out to us after imagining the story together. We thought about how it must have been completely dark by the time the squall happened. How frightening to be in an open sea in the dark in such a storm. We wondered what the disciples were thinking when they woke Jesus and asked if he even cared. The story reminded us that in times of trouble, when we are facing hard things, or our loved ones are sick or dying, how we feel and sometimes wonder, does God even care. Yet God does care. He says, "Be still," reminding us to "Be still and know." Once you start thinking about a story like this, especially together with others, there is so much to ponder!
To end our session, we shared our joys and concerns, lifting each of our prayers to God by saying together, "We lift our prayers to the Lord." As always, we prayed for our church, as we stand saying, "Here I am, Lord." Hineni. We pray, listen, read, and ponder together to discern God's will for our church. We know you all join us in that prayer.
Schedule:
Session 5 - Praying with Scripture - Sunday, June 24, 11:45-12:45
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