BEGIN
Welcome to the Desert Files meditation for
the fourth week in Lent.
Sit comfortably in front of your computer, in
a place where you won't be distracted or
interrupted.
Take the meditation as quickly or slowly as
you like, pressing the "MOVE ON" button to go
to the next page.
RELEASE
You might like to stand up for this
exercise.
Breathe in slowly, and as you breathe in,
imagine the breath creating a circle around
your body, from your head, out and down to your
feet, and out and up back to your head again.
As you release the breath, imagine the phrase
'I am here.'
Repeat several times.
ATTEND
Imagine God within you. Where in your body
do you first locate that presence?
Take some time to visualise God dwelling in
that part of you, and then imagine God's
presence radiating out from that one place in
your body to fill your whole being, perhaps
extending beyond your physical body.
READ
Slowly read the following words from the
Christian tradition:
In the day that
the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,
when no plant of the field was yet in the earth
and no herb of the field had yet yet sprung up
- for the Lord God had not caused it to rain
upon the earth, and there was no one to till
the ground; but a stream would rise from the
earth, and water the whole face of the ground -
then the Lord God formed man from the dust of
the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the
breath of life and the man became a living
being.
[genesis 2: 4-7 nrsv trans]
Read these words again, slowly, and allow one
word or phrase to stand out for you. Reflect on
the meaning and resonance of that word or
phrase for you today.
CONSIDER
The story of God breathing life into the
human suggests that in our essence and at the
core of our life we find God - present in our
breath, at the heart of what gives us
life.
When we engage in contemplative prayer, we put
aside, for a time, all our ideas of God's
separateness from us, and simply sit and
breathe. As we do this, we return for a moment
to the awareness of God within us as well as
beyond us, God's breath in our body.
CONTEMPLATE
Take some time to be silent with God now,
for about 5 minutes, or more. Don't think about
anything in particular, just be as open and
attentive as you can.
When you notice that you are distracted gently
bring yourself back to the place of simple
'being.' You might find it helpful to say
internally, the word or phrase that you were
reflecting on from the reading, as a prompt to
let go of the distraction.
Don't expect anything to 'happen' during this
period of contemplation. It is enough that you
are here, being still.
RESPOND
Is there a verbal prayer or action that you
want to make in response to your meditation
today?
