Lent Meditation: Surrendering Self (Week 2)

Miss the first practice in this series? Meditate here!

Over the next few weeks in our Lent Prayer Meditation series, we’ll embrace Jesus’ invitation to surrender, and in this practice in particular, surrendering our self.

We draw from the words of 18th Century Jesuit Priest Jean Pierre de Caussade who wrote

“What God requires of the soul is the essence of self-surrender. The free gifts he asks from us are self-denial, obedience and love. The rest is his business.”

As an anchor for our meditation, we repeat this refrain:

“Everything is yours, everything is from you and for you.”

May this practice in stillness, silence, and solitude draw your heart ever closer to God’s as we throw off the sin that so easily entangles.

Lent Meditation: Ash Wednesday

What if you gave up noise for Lent? What if you sacrificed the need to be in control, have it all together, understand things perfectly, and do things for God?

What if, instead, you carved out just 10 minutes to be still and quiet with God? What if you settled into your body and became aware of your breath and the presence of God in and around you?

In this first of 10 Lent Prayer Meditation videos, we sit with the last words God says to Adam and Eve as they leave the Garden of Eden:

“For dust you are and to dust you will return.” - Genesis 3:19

Rather than clinging to these words as a curse or pronouncement of punishment, we lean into these words as a reminder of our place in God’s universe – God is God and we are not. As we enter into this season of Lent, a time of repentance, sacrifice, and self-denial, we make space to remember that the timing, outcome, and our hope rests in God.

Gentle Yoga Warmup (10 mins!)

In this practice we we flow through some gentle movements to warm up the entire body, making this an ideal practice to do on its own, before another video, or before another type of exercise.

Our spiritual theme for this practice comes from Jesus’ Parable of the Sower. We concentrate on one type of soil described by Jesus:

Luke 8: 14-15  The seed that falls into the weeds represents the hearts of those who hear the word of God but their growth is quickly choked off by their own anxious cares, the riches of this world, and the fleeting pleasures of this life. This is why they never become mature and fruitful.

The seed that fell into good, fertile soil represents those lovers of truth who hear it deep within their hearts. They respond by clinging to the word, keeping it dear as they endure all things in faith. This is the seed that will one day bear more fruit in their lives.

Mark 4:18-20   And the seed sown among thorns represents those who hear the Word, but they allow the cares of this life and the seduction of wealth and the desires for other things to crowd out and choke the Word so that it produces nothing.

But the seed sown on good soil represents those who open their hearts to receive the Word and their lives bear good fruit…

Matthew 13:22-23    The seed sown among weeds represents the person who receives the message, but all of life’s busy distractions, his divided heart, and his ambition for wealth result in suffocating the kingdom message and prevent him from being spiritual fruit.

As for the seed that fell upon good, rich soil, it represents the hearts of people who hear and fully embrace the message of heaven’s kingdom realm. Their lives bear good fruit…

As we warmup our roots in this 10 minute flow, we invite the Holy Spirit to bring to awareness the weeds in our hearts that may be choking out the seed of God’s abundant life in us.

Advent Meditation: Week Four

This four-part meditation series savors the season of Advent through the Gospel of Luke. Luke begins his account of the arrival of Jesus by first introducing us to a cast of characters who have been waiting on God’s promise for a very long time. This series explores the theme of waiting through the characters of Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, and Simeon and Anna. You can read their stories in the first two chapters of Luke.

Week Four: Simeon and Anna

Luke 1: 5-25, 57-80

In this final practice we see what it looks like to wait with attentiveness and expectation through the stories of Simeon and Anna.

Inhale: I wait

Exhale: You appear

Advent Meditation: Week Three

This four-part meditation series savors the season of Advent through the Gospel of Luke. Luke begins his account of the arrival of Jesus by first introducing us to a cast of characters who have been waiting on God’s promise for a very long time. This series explores the theme of waiting through the characters of Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, and Simeon and Anna. You can read their stories in the first two chapters of Luke.

Week Three: Mary

Luke 1: 5-25, 57-80

In this third practice we sit with Mary, a woman whose hoped-for future changes in an instant, and notice her response to God's promise to her.

Inhale: Your glory

Exhale: my good

Advent Meditation: Week Two

This four-part meditation series savors the season of Advent through the Gospel of Luke. Luke begins his account of the arrival of Jesus by first introducing us to a cast of characters who have been waiting on God’s promise for a very long time. This series explores the theme of waiting through the characters of Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, and Simeon and Anna. You can read their stories in the first two chapters of Luke.

Week Two: Elizabeth

Luke 1: 5-25, 57-80

In this second practice we sit with Elizabeth who, even after decades of disappointment, still harbors a seed of hope and shows a willingness to try again and believe.

Inhale: I have this hope

Exhale: as an anchor for my soul

Advent Meditation: Week One

This four-part meditation series savors the season of Advent through the Gospel of Luke. Luke begins his account of the arrival of Jesus by first introducing us to a cast of characters who have been waiting on God’s promise for a very long time. This series explores the theme of waiting through the characters of Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, and Simeon and Anna. You can read their stories in the first two chapters of Luke.

Week One: Zechariah

Luke 1: 5-25, 57-80

“He has seen us through eyes of grace.” Luke 1:68

Inhale: He sees me

Exhale: through eyes of grace