Session 9 - Module 2 - Reflecting on Biblical Meditation - Reading the Bible as Meditation Literature

All right, this is our concluding session for this class. There's so much more that we could have spent time on. Of course, that's always the case. Actually, I hope to have convinced you, in case you needed convincing, that there's always more to discover. There's more than a lifetime's worth to discover. But I think there's merit in just working through not just Psalm 1 and 2, but how to engage Psalm 1 and 2. Remember this language of, along the grain of its design, we're reading it in sync with how it's asking to be read by the authors who wrote it. So the commission is to go forth and do more meditating, more haggah. But we've just had an experience here at this table, and I don't know how much of this was brand new versus reinforcing things that you've heard elsewhere. But each of us is on a journey, and I've gotten to talk a lot as I played tour guide. So I would love to hear from you all. And as the people here at the table share, I would invite those of you taking the class online, too, to reflect on your own experience of what this tool set makes you realize about the current tool set you have, if you have one. What it would mean to add some new tools, and just what is the effect of this on you in general, I'm really eager to hear. So the table's open. From my perspective, as we're here talking about meditation literature and looking at the Psalms, wondering from your own tradition how you utilize the Psalms as a form of meditation from the Catholic perspective. All priests and deacons are required to pray what we call the Roman breviary, or the breviary, or the Liturgy of the Hours. And we go through all 150 Psalms over a four-week period. And a lot of it is meditating upon what the Psalter is inviting us to think about. But also in this role, as one who helps mediate and pray for others, a lot of it is looking at this Psalm, and maybe I don't identify with Psalm 51 and feeling convicted of sin, but my people do. And so I'm praying for them in this moment, or this Psalm that's talking about sadness and despair. I may identify with it. And so I'm praying right now myself, but also thinking about everyone else in my community who is suffering in this way, and wondering is there a way in which your tradition carries out this process with wisdom literature? Kind of the same way. I wish I had a practice of reading all the Psalms like you

did over a period of time. I can choose to do that, I guess, on my own. But in the same way, trying to understand that the Psalms are teaching me a prayer language and an experience with the Lord. And I think this class was just super helpful in that way of just helping me understand that there is a structure and a design to this, that it's taking me on a journey, and it's bringing me somewhere. And so thinking through, yeah, what these prayers mean is new, I think, for me, and a little different. I think I used to use the Psalms a little more like a pick and choose, like, oh, this one. But a lot of them are sometimes confusing. A lot of them are confusing, honestly. I can relate with many of them, but a lot of them are confusing. So I don't know if that answers your question. I so appreciate the intentionality of your mediation for us. I, when approaching the Psalms, have used them to reflect on what God may be trying to speak to me about in a specific season. I've also used it to mediate and intercede for others, like praying words out loud and kind of reminding God of His promise. I get a little bold and sassy with Him sometimes. It's like, you said in Psalms this, that, this, so I need you to step up, show up for your son and your daughter. And often He surprises by honouring His word. In our reflection of Psalm 1 and 2, I did that a little bit, like asking. And the third thing I do is asking what the invitation is. And the walking in the council and standing in the path and sitting in the seat were all speaking of influence to me. Walking obviously has this momentum to it. Standing, there's a positioning, and then sitting has a sense of developing a habit and conformity. And so diving deeper, it's like, well, what's the opposite of being? And so, yeah, it took me a little bit of a rabbit hole through the Bible, which we love. Like, oh, it said in 1 Corinthians, do not be deceived. Bad company corrupts good morals. You know, that connects to Psalm 1. This class has brought a different kind of

understanding of what it means to be a Christian. And I think that's a really important one. This class has brought a different filter and flavour to that question of, like, okay, God, what's the invitation? Which I think is a third way I kind of meditate and pray with the Psalms. And I'm excited to keep doing that, like having things be confirmed and integrated in a deeper way for me. I'm going to zoom out. I was really struck in how Tim, you had pointed out, like, poetics actually means, like, the craftsmanship. And in thinking through the Psalms, just Psalm 1 and 2 as something that we're crafted with so much intention, like, as long as I've been, like, reading the Bible in Christian spaces, I know there's intention. But as we're going through this, I'm like, there's so much more intention than I ever recognized. And there was something for me that I think strengthened my faith in recognizing the intentionality in that. And I think a lot of this work could feel even, like, academic in a sense. But I was just reflecting actually how devotional that feels to me. Like, the more I understand the intricacies and, like, intentionality, the craftsmanship of these pieces, my faith is deepened. But also, like, my relationship with Scripture

feels like, oh, I'm drinking, like, fresher water than I even knew. It feels, like, really exciting to dig into it with this different lens on. Yeah, I totally agree. When you first started on the foundational concepts, like with the art, I was like, why are we starting with this? And then it makes so much sense. Like, I actually feel like that was one of my favorite sessions, even though we hadn't even dove into the Psalms yet. Because I think that you helped paint the picture, no pun intended, of how many aspects Scripture has. And to your point of craftsmanship, like, I used to read Psalms like they're just prayers. And now I'm thinking, oh, their prayers and their poems with structure, they've been crafted with intention. Like, there's this treasure for me to dig up. And there's so many aspects for me to look at and different lenses. It's not just as linear. I can hold two things that seem opposite together, and the tension's OK. And that's, like, a really good thing to wrestle with, especially for someone maybe more black and white like me. I've really tried to lean more into gray, especially with Scripture. And it feels kind of, like, scary. But I love that, I don't know, that representation the perspectival, right, and aspectival, that really, I don't know, last night when I was going to bed,

I just kept thinking about that. So that really shaped my engagement with this as well. Thank you. I resonate with both of your observations and experiences. There is something about my formative years as a new Christian. We're also in the Protestant evangelical world. And I'm grateful for so many gifts that that tradition gave me. But there was this instinct formed really early that the basic reason I'm reading these texts is what God has to say to me as an individual, which, of course, God will speak to me as an individual, like that's what it's about. But recognizing that God's way of speaking to me is through this whole tradition and all these other people who lived at other times and places and spoke other languages. And just that fact and then how they are communicating can enrich me in ways I would have never imagined. But it forces me to kind of set aside for a moment my need or desire to hear the personal thing, which can feel academic, it can feel a bit analytical. But it's exactly my experience. It ends up becoming more rich and personal than I ever imagined. It really resonates with what both of you have said. It's been my experience, too. Thinking in terms of friends of mine, actually setting aside the personal element.

and thinking more historically, has actually also really bolstered or rekindled the faith of numerous friends of mine who were kind of on the edge of maybe this Jesus thing isn't for me anymore. And that's been so surprising to me. Also, this isn't like an apologetic for the divine origin of Scripture, but I think the longer you sit with it, actually how beautiful it is. It is its own kind of persuading argument. It's not an argument. It's beauty. Really. I don't know. So, yeah, I resonate with what both of you said. I also want to thank you for helping us see the Word of God in light of the analogies that you described, especially with Picasso, that really resonates with me. So when we do see that abstract, we could actually start thinking, okay, how can we actually look at it from the different angles? And the parallels really help. And yeah, I feel more equipped in reading the Bible. And my takeaway from Psalm 1 and 2 has been, it's interesting, I was reading this passage that I mentioned yesterday in Galatians 6, 7, and 8, where Paul says, ironically, do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked, which is actually the same phrase that we read in Psalm 1 and 2. And he says, whoever sows to please the flesh will reap from the flesh destruction, but whoever sows to please the Spirit from the Spirit will reap eternal life. And I feel like this sowing to please the Spirit is actually that delight that is mentioned in Psalm 1. And I sense there is, the Word says that God has instilled eternity in our hearts. And we just need to connect to it. And I think it's not an easy plug, and it takes a little bit of effort. But once you connect to it, actually, that whole picture kind of all of a sudden, like, makes sense, like how we arrived at the understanding the Psalm. So it's very powerful. Thank you for sharing that. My mind went to the middle paragraph of Psalm 1. And because I mentioned that thing I had never noticed before, the first line and the last line of the water of the stream that goes to the tree, and then the wind, which is the same word as for the Spirit of God, the ruach, exiling, the chaff. And that pairing of water and Spirit happens all over, like the Bible. And that's where the phrase pouring out the Spirit comes from is the metaphor of the Spirit as a divine liquid, as it were. And so even though it's subtle or implicit, the presence of the Spirit as the life source of the good life man, in the middle of the poem, there was a new layer for me in Psalm 1 that I hadn't ever noticed until we read it together. So that's also part of what I'm, that's a filter I now have,

is I'm listening to you and you're like, yeah, that's exactly right. There's something unique about the tension. I talk about two different aspects. Only God can do what truly needs to be done to fulfill the purpose of creation. But God is determined not to do that without image of God, human partners who keep failing. And it really seems like impossible that we're ever going to get our act together if only there was someone who could like bring the two together. And that tension over the years for me has become like, I think that's the heart of what the biblical story is trying to tell us about reality. And it's so difficult to hold that tension that in different whatever cultures, religious traditions, maybe we tend to emphasize one over the other. And that's happened in the Christian tradition too, emphasizing divine sovereignty over human agency or vice versa. And somehow Psalm 1, Genesis 1 just says this and that. And you have to live the tension. It doesn't solve it for you. So thank you for sharing that because it's totally My experience too, you're like, we make choices, but then you look back and you're like, holy cow, I had no clue what I was doing. And somehow, God's drawing me to himself. And I don't know how that happened. Thank you for sharing that. That's what I was thinking while you were sharing your story. I am convinced that we could talk for another hour. And perhaps we should. But for practical purposes, I think these are wonderful reflections to, I think, conclude on that once you see what is possible with how biblical authors communicate, you can't unsee it. And the more you begin a meditation style habit, maybe it's not every encounter with scripture. Like I still use the Psalms in daily prayer, and I'm not doing this. I'm literally adopting the language as my own prayer, you know, and that that has its place too. But I find that that experience is enriched if it's a Psalm that I have done this on, then it's like, wow, this is so cool. So it really has the potential to wherever you're at, to take your next step, I hope. And it helps in numerous ways, personally, in terms of memory, in terms of memorizing large chunks of scripture. You've talked about Sia. What these additional tools in your toolkit, however, they're helpful to you and what the Holy Spirit is going to do in your journey following Jesus, I have no clue. And that's as it should be, because it's your journey, and he's leading us onward to greater devotion to him and to see the kingdom of God come on earth as it is in heaven. May God have mercy on us as we become more faithful meditators on scripture. Thank you for joining me in this

learning experience. For those of you taking a class online, we hope it's helpful for you. And onward. Tomorrow is another day. Today is a day to do some more meditation. So it's great. Thank you, guys.