Catholic couples are normally required to spend at least six months preparing for marriage. Adam and I are doing the best we can, but the process is a bit more difficult when the betrothed are thousands of miles apart. We plan to spend a weekend in DC at an Engaged Encounter, about which I plan to post more later. For now, we're both plodding along on our own.
As part of my own spiritual preparation for marriage, my chaplain suggested I could get involved in Christian Life Communities--CLC. It's a group of Catholics who meet and pray together once a week, using The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius as a very rough guideline. Imaginative contemplation is a central focal point for Ignatian (Jesuit) prayer. It involves reading a scripture passage and then entering into in with your imagination. Sometimes nothing happens. Sometimes, you are aware that your mind is creating an experience for you--not a wash of an experience because it's still a form of prayer. But, at its best, imaginative contemplation takes your out of yourself and puts you into the narrative of the scripture passage and gives you an opportunity to speak with and listen to Christ.
I'd like to post a rough outline for an imaginative contemplation for anyone who would like to try it. I'm borrowing/adapting this from my friend Siobahn (shi-BAHN--she's Irish), so I hope she doesn't mind.
1.) You'll need at least twenty minutes. Find a quiet place and time in your day. Sit comfortably--try not to move or fidget during the prayer.
2.) Next, try to still your soul. This is one kind of "stillness exercise." Focus on your body. How are you sitting? How does the chair feel? One by one, tense up all the muscles in your body. Relax them. Focus on your breathing. As you exhale, breath out any worries or concerns that may distract you during prayer. Ask God to take care of them for you. As you breath in, feel yourself being filled with the love of God.
3.) When your mind feels settled, read the scripture reading. This reading is from Mark 4: 35-41. Read it once, and then again, slowly.
4.) Close your eyes. Imagine yourself into the scene. Try to quiet yourself. Go with your first reactions. There are no wrong answers. Take the questions slowly, as a guide. You may choose to ignore them.
Imagine the scene. What does the weather feel like? Hot? Cold? Can you smell the sea? Imagine yourself climbing into a boat after a long, hard day. What does the boat look like? How many people are in the boat. What are they doing?
Night falls. The sky grows darker . The waves grow and the wind blows harder. How do you feel? Listen to the wind. Is it raining? Feel the boat rocking harder and harder. How do you feel now?
Where is Jesus? Someone goes to wake him up--is it you? How does he react? Watch as he moves to the edge of the boat. Listen as he rebukes the storm. Calm. What are your feelings toward Jesus? Take the time to speak with him if you would like. Take the time to listen to him, too.
Spend as much time as you need imagining yourself into the reading.
5.) Take some time to reflect. What did you say to Jesus? What did Jesus say to you? What are the "storms" in your life? Is there anything you'd like Jesus to rebuke and tell to be quiet?
6.) You may wish to spend a few minutes asking God for his help or thanking him for his blessings.
And then you're finished. At first, I was extremely skeptical. I don't tend to go in for "hippy spirituality." Still, several months in, I can honestly say that the group has changed my life. Once you know how it works, you can try imaginative contemplation for any number of readings. Saint Ignatius' example is John 1, though I'm not sure my imagination is up to that yet. I'm very excited to someday try this new way of praying with Adam in person.
I like this. I might try it.
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