Highlights from our
March discussion on Chapter 3
To start off, we read:
The Better Part
by Rachael
A. Keefe from her book of Lenten reflections, negotiating the shadows, p. 47-49
Show me this path of life
that leads to fullness of joy
in the pleasures of your presence.
I want to sit as Mary sat
at Your feet
listening
hearing
knowing.
By another's account
Martha clearly saw
what others could not
and recognized You
in her moment of loss and
despair.
How could
her everyday distractions
turn her
attention from sitting with You?
What did it
matter
that her
house was not clean
and dinner
was late
when You walked
through her door?
Did she worry
about disappointing You
so much that
she forgot You
accept her—no
perfection
of house,
food, or self
required?
How
did Mary know
to be still
and listen?
What did she
hear that Martha did not?
Walk through
my door today.
Call me from my tasks.
The
worries and distractions of my day
drown out the still
small voice of You.
Pursuing
perfection
demands more
than I want to give
with too
great a price.
Show
me Your path
to
let go of worry and distraction
to
know what is needful
and
to choose the better part.
Lively discussion ensued,
prompted by seemingly high proportion of attendees who identify with Martha in
realizing that someone has to do the cleaning and cook the food.
Summary is that we
generally approved of Martha's actions, it was her whining we didn't like, and
yet we would like a different ending to that story. (Everyone goes the kitchen
and helps, for example.) Remembering our visit the Harvard museums exhibit of
the house in the time of Jesus made us realize that crowding into the kitchen
may not have been an option, though.
Insights about cleaning
and de-cluttering
In response to a remark
one person made that cleaning didn't help her feel close to God, another shared
this insight: "Getting rid of the clutter helps me to feel not so nudgy;
it finds the things that get in the way of a relationship with God; so that
contributes to my peace of mind, which brings me close to God."
Another said: "When I
cleaned in silence, rather than with music or TV or radio on, I found that my
thoughts did turn to God more often while I was cleaning, and I became more
focused."
Our favorite quote from
this chapter:
God is like that, repairing the world all the time. Even though it’s hard for me to see the spiritual value in menial household chores, there’s something deeply Christian about them. In a brilliant book about the theology of housekeeping, Margaret Kim Peterson says that it’s precisely the never-ending nature of household tasks such as cooking that makes them “so akin to the providential work of God.” Every day, every person in the household needs to be fed—again. We feed them with the knowledge that tomorrow morning, they will wake up hungry and we’ll have to repeat the whole cycle.
Peterson says that our constant round of housework and God’s initial act of creation have something in common: both are about bringing order from chaos. But God doesn’t just put our earthly home into motion and let things take their course; he’s constantly playing housekeeper.
Riess, Jana (2011-09-24). Flunking
Sainthood: A Year of Breaking the Sabbath, Forgetting to Pray and Still Loving
My Neighbor (Kindle Locations 601-607).
Paraclete Press. Kindle Edition.
April: Lectio
divination
We tried a sample of
lectio divina with Matthew 11:28-30,
- reading (lectio)
- and then praying about the scripture, (oratio)
- reading and listening for one line or phrase that caught our hearts and meditating on that line, (meditatio)
- reading and contemplating how we could make that scripture part of our lives. (contemplatio)
We agreed that during April we would try lectio divina, reading a passage of scripture aloud and meditating on what struck our hearts, praying for more insight and connection, and contemplating how the scripture might move into our lives.
Options for Daily Bible
Reading with Audio
Here are some links for
audio scripture, so that someone else could read the scripture aloud to you:
Conference of Catholic
Bishops Daily reading, and audio of that reading
Daily Audio Bible:
Reading the Bible through in a Year (with commentary)
Our Daily Bread—A
Reflection and then a Bible reading
If you want to search
for a passage on your own and then hear the audio, try Bible Gateway--it is only by chapter at a time, but good readers.
This is a Lutheran daily reading plan, no audio.
Other Links:
Some of my experiences,
exercises and notes about Lectio Divina from the Adult Ed sessions I did several years
ago.
The Order of Saint
Benedict: Lectio Divina
(Not all of their links work, so I've listed the ones that do below)
The Cloud of Unknowing, chapter 35 (anonymous 14th-century English author).
Armand Nigro, SJ, and John
Veltri, SJ, Praying with Scripture.
Luke Dysinger, OSB, Accepting the Embrace of God: The Ancient Art of
Lectio Divina (1990).
The Ladder of Four Rungs. 54K text, 140K graphics.
From The Nine Ways of Prayer of St. Dominic (1260-1288).
Abbot Armand Veilleux,
OCSO, Lectio Divina as School of Prayer among the Fathers
of the Desert (1995).
Lectio with poetry or
with other readings besides the Bible
