Over the course of the last several months, our church body has been experimenting with more diverse, reflective, and communal ways of engaging with Scripture together. Week by week we are constantly reminded of just how impactful it is to:
Allow the Spirit of God to truly direct, guide, and lead our time together
Ensure every voice is heard, given a chance to matter, and influences us all
Center the real, messy, and untidy relationships with Jesus represented in our midst
Week by week, once everyone has cleared out and Troy and I sit in the silence of our consecrated living room, I explain it over and over again to him: “I can’t believe we haven’t always done this. There really is no going back. What a gift to know reading scripture can feel like this.”
Our time together looks a bit different each week, and I am still very much in research and experimentation mode when it comes to engaging with scripture communally (turns out there aren’t a ton of resources that don’t center a single preacher structure), but I wanted to start sharing some examples of how we have been engaging together with the Word of God in a way that is truly participatory, non-hierarchical, and Spirit-led. Because you might need to be reminded as often as I do: That is possible. It really works. And there is so much more to knowing and experiencing God than we have ever been given the chance to practice.
The attached recording (and subsequent image that goes along with it) is an example of this last week’s meditative practice for us. We base our weekly gatherings on the Revised Common Lectionary and this week, it had us celebrating Transfiguration Sunday.
You can use the recording as an individual or with a group, which I highly recommend. Simply adding in your roommate, partner, or child (yes, this form of engaging with scripture is actually kid-friendly— although, it may require less pauses and silence and more kid-friendly language) to the experience can make a real significant difference and add a great deal of beauty to your engaging with this passage.
I recommend practicing some form of Breath Prayer or any other centering exercise before beginning (we often use 5-4-3-2-1).
When you are ready, press play, press pause or fast forward as needed, and use the image below to complete this meditative experience. (I recommend waiting to scroll down to the image until you are ready to begin. Fresh eyes are best!)
You can also use the transcript provided above if you prefer a written version of the experience.
Enjoy!
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