Contemplative at Home

A 23-minute audio meditation with John 8:1-11, using Imaginative Contemplation. In this meditation on John's Gospel, I invite you to join me in taking a 'long, loving look' at a few verses of text, beholding the words as living, shimmering, life-giving containers which hold endless layers of wisdom, mystery, beauty and truth. Just for these few minutes, I invite you to leave your dogma, your creed...

A 16-minute meditation with John 7:37-39, using Lectio Divina and Imaginative Contemplation. In chapers 7 and 8 of the book of John, politics are whirling and public opinion around Jesus is intensifying. In these choppy political seas - with which we are all familiar in our own way - Jesus speaks these words: "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the s...

A 25-minute audio guided meditation in Luke's Gospel, Luke 10:38-42, using Imaginative Contemplation. "As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and aske...

A 19 minute audio meditation with John 7, verses 14-18 and 25-31, using Lectio Divina and breath work. In John 7, the public opinion of the Rabbi Jesus is becoming fraught, with many following, many criticising and others wanting him out of the way. In todays text Jesus has made his way to Jerusalem for the festival of booths, but has come quietly, on his own, without an entourage or public entran...

A guided audio meditation with John 6:52-60, 66-69, using Lectio Divina. "Jesus said to them, "Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.  54  Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.  55  For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.  56  Whoever eats my flesh...

A meditation with John 6:30-35, 38-39, using breath work and Lectio Divina. This passage is so beautiful. I know that bread has taken many different forms in different times and places, but I can't help but see a loaf of sourdough rising in the oven - expanding, filling, bubbling, opening. There is so much language in these verses about giving life. Manna. Nourishment. Food. Satiation of hunger an...

A meditation with John 6: 24-29, using Lectio Divina . In this text, the crowd realises that Jesus has gone to the other side of the lake, and decide to follow. It got me thinking about "Elvis has left the building"... or rather "Jesus has left the building." "When the crowd saw that Jesus had gone..." (John 6:24) What are the signs for you that Jesus has left a place? That the pillar of smoke is...

An imaginative contemplation with John 6:16-21 . In this meditation on John's Gospel, I invite you to join me in taking a 'long, loving look' at a few verses of text, beholding the words as living, shimmering, life-giving containers which hold endless layers of wisdom, mystery, beauty and truth. Just for these few minutes, I invite you to leave your dogma, your creed, your thoughts, and your ratio...

A meditation on John 6:15, using Lectio Divina and Imaginative Contemplation. Today we meditate on one verse: "When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself." I very nearly skipped this in my travels through John's gospel, but was drawn in when I realised that this crowd wasn't taking him by force in order to a...

A meditation in John's Gospel, chapter 6, verses 1-13, using Lectio Divina and Imaginative Contemplation. In this meditation on John's Gospel, I invite you to join me in taking a 'long, loving look' at a few verses of text, beholding the words as living, shimmering, life-giving containers which hold endless layers of wisdom, mystery, beauty and truth. Just for these few minutes, I invite you to le...

A meditation with John 5:19-22, 24 using Lectio Divina. After the man is healed at the pool of Bethesda, and some take issue with Jesus for healing on the Sabbath, Jesus goes on to describe the relationship between himself and the Father. I invite you to listen with the ears of your heart, staying in your deep-self centre as you remain open for layers of meaning to come out of this text for you to...

A meditation with John 5:9-19 with The Message translation, using Lectio Divina. Following on from the healing at the pool of Bethesda , this meditation takes us into the busy temple courtyard, where Jesus bumps into the man who has been made well. Just for these few minutes, I invite you to leave your dogma, your creed, your thoughts, and your rational mind aside, and become present to your deepe...

A meditation with imaginative contemplation in John's Gospel, chapter 5, verses 2-8 . In imaginative contemplation, we try to make the scene come alive in our minds eye. Some people can conjure very vivid images, sounds and smells in their minds, others experience more of an emotional impression. There is no right or wrong way to do this, the purpose of imaginative contemplation is to allow the go...

A meditation in John's Gospel, chapter 4, verses 23-26, using Lectio Divina. Today we return to Jesus and the Samaritan woman, engaged in conversation beside the well. They've come upon one fundamental difference between Jewish and Samaritan religious practice: "Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say the place where people must worship is Jerusalem." Jesus seems to want to move away...

A meditation in John's Gospel, chapter 1, verses 1-5 , with imaginative contemplation. The story of the woman at the well is one that most listeners will be very familiar with. Sometimes over-familiarity breeds disconnection: we stop seeing the things we look at every day. Here I'm asking you to really imagine that you are actually in the scene. Is this well in a small clearing or in a big open pl...

A contemplative meditation based on John 3:33-36, with breathwork. This meditation was recorded on a very warm September afternoon - the window was open, so the birdsong and passing planes are part of the soundscape. Perhaps you can imagine God's kindness towards both you and the little birds as you listen. The shape of this meditation was modelled on Anthony De Mello's Sadhana: A Way to God (Chap...

An 8-minute meditation with John 1:16 In this simple meditation we sit with the words of John 1:16: "From his fullness, we have all received grace upon grace." May deep breaths and deep peace be yours, whatever else may be for you today. Contemplative at Home  offers guided meditative prayer - space to slow down and listen to the truth that is being born out of God's love for you today - drawing o...

A ten minute meditation (including 3 minutes of silence) with Ephesians 5:1-2. Contemplative at Home  offers guided meditative prayer - space to slow down and listen to the truth that is being born out of God's love for you today - drawing on Ignatian spirituality and at times, Lectio Divina. Sign up for Lissy's newsletter " The Contemplative Window " or join our Facebook group  here Support the s...

An 8-minute meditation with Psalm 23:1-3. Blessings. Contemplative at Home  offers guided meditative prayer - space to slow down and listen to the truth that is being born out of God's love for you today - drawing on Ignatian spirituality and at times, Lectio Divina. Sign up for Lissy's newsletter " The Contemplative Window " or join our Facebook group  here Support the show by sharing it with a f...

A 9-minute meditation, focusing on God's loving presence, with 5 minutes of silence. Dear Friends, As I head away for the summer with my family, I've left a series of simple meditations for you to enjoy during August. This is the first of them. Wherever you find yourself this month, may there be moments for stillness and reflection, and new discoveries in the rest. Blessings Lissy Contemplative at...

A meditation with John 3:22-30, using Lectio Divina. After the passover, Jesus and his disciples go out into the Judean countryside, and spend some time together. (I'm not sure why but this little phrase puts me in mind of the time when we had no mobile phones - were we able to pass extended periods of time together in a mellower, richer way?) Jesus is baptising, and John is baptising too, because...

A meditation with John 3:1-10, using imaginative contemplation and Lectio Divina.   Contemplative at Home offers guided meditative prayer - space to slow down and listen to the truth that is being born out of God's love for you today - drawing on Ignatian spirituality and at times, Lectio Divina.   Sign up for Lissy's newsletter " The Contemplative Window " or join our Facebook group here   Suppor...

A meditation in John's Gospel, Chapter 2, Verses 13-22, using imaginative contemplation. This episode looks at the story of Jesus overthrowing the traders in the temple. I'm not in a position to offer authoritative information on the background of this story, but my understanding is that Jesus' anger here is around the financial barriers that have arisen between the poor and worship. The Torah law...

A meditation with John 2:1-12 (Water into Wine or the wedding at Cana), using imaginative contemplation. I encourage you to have a quick read of the scripture passage before starting this meditation, if you have time. You can find it in the NRSV here . One line that I don't really offer in the meditation, but is in the text, (and I think quite helpful) is "Jesus did this, the first of his signs, i...

A meditation with John 1 verses 43-51 using breath work, body awareness, and imaginative contemplatio n. This is our seventh and final meditation in the remarkable chapter one in the book of John. The story opens with the wide, sweeping lens on the dawn of time as the word , the light births all of creation into being. John melts into the poetic "Word became flesh" (v14) and "from his fullness we...