Wednesday, February 21, 2007

update on my lenten thoughts

i decided that i'm sacrificing:
a. listening to music/radio in my car
and
b. watching tv (unless i need to know the weather report) at home

and during times that i would normally turn on the tv, i'll read from the gospels and/or consider various aspects of Jesus's life and death...and how they affect my daily living.

when its quiet in my car, i'll be able to reflect on my recent readings, and better hear from the Lord as i'm going from place to place.

(also, how horrible of me..i had no idea how short a time it would take to read through ALL of the gospels! if i just read 2 chapters a day and 3 chapters on sundays, i'll finish the whole set before Easter. if i read my Bible more often, i'd probably have realised how quickly one can read through four books from it..before now.)

side: i just witnessed my first Ash Wednesday participant customer! (when i lived in the heart of Catholicism [Louisiana], seeing ash-smudged foreheads didnt excite me as much as it does now that i'm in the heart of Baptistism [Georgia])

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Since you mentioned wanting to meditate on your reading, I would recommend a practice such as lectio divina (which, admittedly, I have only used in group settings).

There are plenty of Web sites, etc. on the subject, but basically, you take a story from Scripture, read it, then read it over again. During the second reading, you pay attention to the word or phrase that jumps out. Then read it again, and think about what it is saying to you. Then read the passage a forth time and use it as a prayer.

It sounds really repetitive and goofy, but when I've been in situations where this has been used, I was amazed at the new insights I picked up on.

coffee girl said...

yes..i did that with a group at a retreat last summer. it was realy cool. never realy tried doing it outside of the group method.