christian audio meditation

A 16-minute guided audio meditation with John 8:31-36, using breath work and Lectio Divina.

"We have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying 'You will be made free'?" John 8:33

Jesus invites his followers into an interior freedom. We could devote our entire lives to the exploration of this invitation. You might find it useful to reflect on these questions:

• Where and when do I feel lack of freedom around my choices or my reactions?
• When and how do I feel an inability to give and receive love?
• In what ways do I feel stuck?
• Am I free to express my needs and opinions with confidence and grace?
• Where do I feel most alive? Where do I feel least alive?

Every blessing as you reflect and pray.

You are more loved than you can ever imagine. May this be the truth that sets you free.

Contemplative at Home offers guided meditative prayer - space to slow down and listen to the truth that is being born out of God's love for you today - drawing on Ignatian spirituality and at times, Lectio Divina.

Sign up for Lissy's newsletter "The Contemplative Window" or join our Facebook group here

You can support the show by sharing it with a friend, rating it on your preferred podcast platform, making a one-off donation or becoming a member. Thank you so much!

All music by Pete Hatch. 

A 22-minute audio guided meditation in John’s Gospel, John 8:12-20, using Lectio Divina.

My invitation to you, always, is to engage with scripture through your creative, non-rational self. Rational engagement with scripture is equally important - we usually call it bible study - and I hope there is a dose of it in your rhythms. But my invitation is to help you engage with this sacred text through the non-thinking parts of yourself. With your intuition, your soul, your inner knowing.

In this passage, there is debate. The pharisees are pushing Jesus, prodding with questions and asking for how he measures to the framework of their law.

You will have your own responses to this, and as you listen I invite you to stay in your deep inner knowing, to allow one word or phrase to open meaning for you, and to let the rest fall away.

I see Jesus here deep in his own inner knowing, profoundly connected with his Source, and focussed wholly on that alone.

May you come close to Jesus as you pray with this text.

All love, all Light, all blessings.

Contemplative at Home offers guided meditative prayer - space to slow down and listen to the truth that is being born out of God's love for you today - drawing on Ignatian spirituality and at times, Lectio Divina.

Sign up for Lissy's newsletter "The Contemplative Window" or join our Facebook group here

You can support the show by sharing it with a friend, rating it on your preferred podcast platform, making a one-off donation or becoming a member. Thank you so much!

All music by Pete Hatch. 

A meditation with John 6:30-35, 38-39, using breath work and Lectio Divina.

This passage is so beautiful.

I know that bread has taken many different forms in different times and places, but I can't help but see a loaf of sourdough rising in the oven - expanding, filling, bubbling, opening.

There is so much language in these verses about giving life. Manna. Nourishment. Food. Satiation of hunger and thirst. Being raised up.

They said to him "Sir, give us this bread always" I imagine it sounding like "Rabbi - we always want this bread."

Don't we though? Life. To the full. Yes, please.

Blessings as you pray, loves. All blessings.

Contemplative at Home offers guided meditative prayer - space to slow down and listen to the truth that is being born out of God's love for you today - drawing on Ignatian spirituality and at times, Lectio Divina.

Sign up for Lissy's newsletter "The Contemplative Window" or join our Facebook group here

Support the show by sharing it with a friend, rating it on your preferred podcast platform, or by becoming a member for just a few $ or £ per month. Thank you so much!

All music by Pete Hatch. 

A meditation with John 6: 24-29, using Lectio Divina.

In this text, the crowd realises that Jesus has gone to the other side of the lake, and decide to follow. It got me thinking about "Elvis has left the building"... or rather "Jesus has left the building." "When the crowd saw that Jesus had gone..." (John 6:24) What are the signs for you that Jesus has left a place? That the pillar of smoke is moving on? Have you had this experience in your own way? And how did you respond?

When the crowd finds Jesus, he questions their interest in him. He suggests they are interested in the sensational magic, rather than the spirit of hope and love. What is it that draws you to Jesus? Why are you attracted to him? What compels you to follow? What do you see?

May these questions take you further into meditation today, and every blessing as you pray.

Contemplative at Home offers guided meditative prayer - space to slow down and listen to the truth that is being born out of God's love for you today - drawing on Ignatian spirituality and at times, Lectio Divina.

Sign up for Lissy's newsletter "The Contemplative Window" or join our Facebook group here

Support the show by sharing it with a friend, rating it on your preferred podcast platform, or by becoming a member for just a few $ or £ per month. Thank you so much!

All music by Pete Hatch. 

An imaginative contemplation with John 6:16-21.

In this meditation on John’s Gospel, I invite you to join me in taking a ‘long, loving look’ at a few verses of text, beholding the words as living, shimmering, life-giving containers which hold endless layers of wisdom, mystery, beauty and truth.

Just for these few minutes, I invite you to leave your dogma, your creed, your thoughts, and your rational mind aside, and become present to your deeper self, your true self or essential self. I invite you to a way of unknowing, a place of deep being. 

Contemplative at Home offers guided meditative prayer - space to slow down and listen to the truth that is being born out of God's love for you today - drawing on Ignatian spirituality and at times, Lectio Divina.

Sign up for Lissy's newsletter "The Contemplative Window" or join our Facebook group here

Support the show by sharing it with a friend, rating it on your preferred podcast platform, or by becoming a member for just a few $ or £ per month. Thank you so much!

All music by Pete Hatch. 

An audio meditation in John’s Gospel, chapter 1, verses 19-28.

As an undergrad at Whitworth College, I took a class in John’s Gospel with F. Dale Bruner. I vividly recall Dale opening each session by translating the text into animated English out of the original Greek, which he held entirely memorised in his brain. I particularly remember his arm gestures as he put across the point: “he who comes behind me, ranks ahead of me, because he was before me.” (John 1:15, 1:30)

A final assignment for the class was to make some kind of representation of each chapter of John’s Gospel. I made a small book of water colour paintings. One of the very few University assignments that is still with me, today it sits on my desk to guide me as I travel through John’s Gospel with Contemplative at Home,

For the text in this meditation (which could be called John the Baptist's sermon on the identity of Jesus) I have used Dale’s own translation as recorded his Commentary on the Gospel of John (Eerdmans). I find the language to be full of life and I hope it will open a new door for you as you listen, with the ears of your heart open.

Every blessing as you pray.

Contemplative at Home offers guided meditative prayer - space to slow down and listen to the truth that is being born out of God's love for you today - drawing on Ignatian spirituality and at times, Lectio Divina.

Sign up for Lissy's newsletter "The Contemplative Window" or join our Facebook group here

Support the show by sharing it with a friend, rating it on your preferred podcast platform, or by becoming a member for just a few $ or £ per month. Thank you so much!

All music by Pete Hatch. 

A meditation in John’s Gospel, chapter 1, verses 14-17

These words in my old paper Bible have so many little side notes, one word circled in the text with an accordion file of notes on the greek root and its myriad translations spilling into the margins. The unfolding possibilities in the meaning of these words is so rich, so beautiful and compelling that I have taken the liberty of adding them into my reading of the text for you today.

My added words, are all based on the notes of (a) a scholar in Seattle whose name I did not record, teaching circa 1998 (b) the footnotes in my Oxford Annotated NRSV and (c) Strong's notes on the greek in the MOUNCE translation on Bible Gateway.

May the unfurling of these words, as they try in their own limited way to speak of the Word, the original breath of all that is, nestle into your heart and ignite some small fire of insight, of hope, of love.

With every blessing,

Lissy

Contemplative at Home offers guided meditative prayer - space to slow down and listen to the truth that is being born out of God's love for you today - drawing on Ignatian spirituality and at times, Lectio Divina.

Sign up for Lissy's newsletter "The Contemplative Window" or join our Facebook group here

Support the show by sharing it with a friend, rating it on your preferred podcast platform, or by becoming a member for just a few $ or £ per month. Thank you so much!

All music by Pete Hatch. 

May grace and peace be yours in abundance! (1 Peter 1:2)

Peter's letters are addressed to communities throughout Asia Minor, and the notes in my study Bible say that we can assume the members are "Gentiles, resident aliens and household slaves." They face persecution and social ostracism for identifying as Christian.

This meditation looks at verses 2-4 and 8-9. There is talk of heaven in this chapter and I find the dynamic between future and present hopes interesting. While it is easy to pitch our hopes on the future in very difficult circumstances, Peter also talks about the joy in the present moment. And this he says to an audience enduring difficulties which I personally cannot begin to imagine. You are receiving the outcome of your faith (v9). Whilst circumstances remain difficult, the hope that we long for is not confined solely to the future. It is also right here, around and among us, even in the midst of the mess.

Do you know anyone who embodies an earthy, joy-right-here-in-the-mess kind of faith and hope? Not by-passing pain, not ignoring injustice, but hope and love in the midst of it?

May this kind of resurrection hope be yours.

Blessings as you pray.

Contemplative at Home offers guided meditative prayer - space to slow down and listen to the truth that is being born out of God's love for you today - drawing on Ignatian spirituality and at times, Lectio Divina.

Sign up for Lissy's newsletter "The Contemplative Window" or join our Facebook group here

Support the show by sharing it with a friend, rating it on your preferred podcast platform, or by becoming a member for just a few $ or £ per month. Thank you so much!

All music by Pete Hatch.

Dear Friends,

Lenten greetings.

When choosing which passages to work with in these meditations, I tend to lean towards the most positive, hopeful and encouraging bits of the Bible that I can find.

In the midst of all that we struggle with, I feel that we primarily need hope and love and peace spoken over us. I also have a wild faith in the power of Love to transform us, and in Christ's beautiful invitation to intimacy and union. Bringing you into this invitation is my primary desire in making these meditations.

Lent, however, is a good time to gaze at what is broken and difficult. Jesus did that himself, and, in my experience, offers a presence and a friendship to stand beside us, and gaze with us, at the sticky, painful bits of our inner and outer worlds. 

With that in mind, we will be looking at brokenness - all that is difficult and wearying - in our meditations over the next few weeks, noticing how it is handled throughout Biblical texts. 

May these stories continue to help you make sense of your own story, and may this practice of ‘beholding the pain’ in a safe context bear gifts of life for you. Do take care of yourself, don't address more than you are ready to, and turn to safe people for support when you need it.

Blessings, always, as you pray.

Lissy

Contemplative at Home offers guided meditative prayer - space to slow down and listen to the truth that is being born out of God's love for you today - drawing on Ignatian spirituality and at times, Lectio Divina.

Sign up for Lissy's monthly newsletter "The Contemplative Window" or join our Facebook group here

Support the show by sharing it with a friend, rating it on your preferred podcast platform, or by becoming a member for just a few $ or £ per month. Thank you so much!

All music by Pete Hatch.

A gentle practice to rest in God's love, using a combination of lectio divina and centering prayer. 

Blessings as you pray.

Lissy

Contemplative at Home offers guided meditative prayer - space to slow down and listen to the truth that is being born out of God's love for you today - drawing on Ignatian spirituality and at times, Lectio Divina.

Sign up for Lissy's monthly newsletter "The Contemplative Window" or join our Facebook group here

Support the show by sharing it with a friend, rating it on your preferred podcast platform, or by becoming a member for just a few $ or £ per month. Thank you so much!

All music by Pete Hatch.

It is no wonder the the community founded by John, "the one whom Jesus loved" (John 13:23), would go on teach at length about the profound love of God.

John is often referred to as the beloved disciple.

I can't help but wonder how much of this belovedness, this identity as the beloved, is a function of John's capacity and willingness to recieve the Love that was offered to him.

How might you be invited to increase your capacity to recieve love?

The writer of 1 John suggests that God is Love, that to love another is to know God and that when we love, God dwells within us. (v 7, v16)

What do you love? Who do you love? How do you love? Can you sense the presence of God humming within that love?

Blessings as you pray.

I John 4 verses 12, 18-21

¹² No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. ¹⁹ We love because he first loved us. ²⁰ Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.²¹ And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

 

 

Advent is a time for preparing, for making space (though as Tsh Oxenrieder says in her Advent book "Shadow and Light", to be still, to make space is an almost subversive act our culture's December).

I do pray that you might find some space today to breathe, to be still, to listen and to ask yourself the question, what might it mean for my heart to prepare room for the Christchild?

Much love and every blessing as you pray today

L

PS: Here we pray with Isaiah 40:3-5. The whole chapter is worth your Advent meditation time!

Contemplative at Home offers guided meditative prayer - space to slow down and listen to the truth that is being born out of God's love for you today - drawing on Ignatian spirituality and at times, Lectio Divina.

Sign up for Lissy's weekly newsletter "The Contemplative Window" or join our Facebook group here

Support the show by sharing it with a friend, rating it on your preferred podcast platform, or by becoming a member for just a few $ or £ per month. Thank you so much!

Further details www.contemplativeathome.com.

All music by Pete Hatch.

A Centering Prayer meditation, with three minutes of silence, concluding with an Anglican collect. In centering prayer, we use a sacred word to gently hold our attention on the loving gaze of God. You are invited to find a word that comes naturally to you. This might be a name by which you address the Holy, a state such as love, peace, joy, or a short phrase such as “here I am” or “be still and know that I am God.” You are invited to settle on your phrase and then to stay with it for the duration of your meditation.  Blessings as you pray, dear ones. Collect: O God, whose beauty is beyond our imagining and whose power we cannot comprehend: show us your glory as far as we can grasp it, and shield us from knowing more than we can bear until we may look upon you without fear; through Jesus Christ our Saviour. Contemplative at Home offers guided meditative prayer - space to slow down and listen to the truth that is being born out of God's love for you today - drawing on Ignatian spirituality and at times, Lectio Divina. Sign up for Lissy's weekly newsletter "The Contemplative Window" http://eepurl.com/hkbDFP or join our Facebook group here https://www.facebook.com/groups/1905953786386080/ For more information please visit www.contemplativeathome.com. All music by Pete Hatch. instagram.com/brother.boost

In this Centering Prayer practice, we observe six minutes of silence together, and close our prayer with the Coventry Litany of Reconciliation.

In centering prayer, we use a sacred word to gently hold our attention on the loving gaze of God. You are invited to find a word that comes naturally to you. This might be a name by which you address the Holy, a state such as love, peace, joy, or a short phrase such as “here I am” or “be still and know that I am God.” You are invited to settle on your phrase and then to stay with it for the duration of your meditation. 

Blessings as you pray.

Contemplative at Home offers guided meditative prayer - space to slow down and listen to the truth that is being born out of God's love for you today - drawing on Ignatian spirituality and at times, Lectio Divina.

Sign up for Lissy's weekly newsletter "The Contemplative Window" or join our Facebook group here

Support the show by sharing it with a friend, rating it on your preferred podcast platform, or by becoming a member for just a few $ or £ per month. Thank you so much!

Further details www.contemplativeathome.com.

Meditation bell by steaq on freesound.org

All music by Pete Hatch. 

A take on Lectio Divina, this meditation flows from the Genesis 2 creation account "a river watering the garden flowed from Eden, from there it separated into four headwaters", to Psalm 36 "you give them drink from your river of delights", through Isaiah 44 & 55 "I will pour water on thirsty ground," "come all you who are thirsty, come, drink", to Jesus' words in John "streams of living water will flow from them" and concludes with John's vision in Revelation of the new Jerusalem "the angel showed me the river of the water of life". As you pause to pray with this meditation, I would encourage you to invoke your own memories around streams, rivers, ponds, rain, or the ocean. How would you use your images to describe God's movement, God's Spirit, God's being? And as you meander through these verses, which words or images catch you, and spark wonder or interest? Pause there. Dive in. Be open to what is being offered to you in that eddy. Drink deep. (Please forgive any mispronunciations in the Genesis reading, I'm not a linguist!) Blessings as you pray. Contemplative at Home offers guided meditative prayer - space to slow down and listen to the truth that is being born out of God's love for you today - drawing on Ignatian spirituality and at times, Lectio Divina. Sign up for Lissy's weekly newsletter "The Contemplative Window" http://eepurl.com/hkbDFP or join our Facebook group here https://www.facebook.com/groups/1905953786386080/ Support the show by sharing it with a friend, rating it on your preferred podcast platform, or with a one-off or regular donation. ko-fi.com/contemplativeathome. Thank you so much! For more information please visit www.contemplativeathome.com. All music by Pete Hatch. instagram.com/brother.boost

In the Hebrew Bible the word for Spirit - ruach - is alternately translated as spirit, as breath (or breath of life), and as wind.

The ruach hovers over the deep before the creation of the world. The ruach blows back the waters of the great flood. The ruach gives life to the dry bones in Ezekiel's vision.

In this meditation we consider how the wind of the Holy Spirit might revive and renew us, before practicing a simple breath prayer.

Inhale: Breath of God,

Exhale: Breathe on me.

Inhale: Breath of God,

Exhale: Loosen my grip.

Inhale: Breath of God,

Exhale: I breathe in you.

Blessings, always, as you pray, dear ones.

Contemplative at Home offers guided meditative prayer - space to slow down and listen to the truth that is being born out of God's love for you today - drawing on Ignatian spirituality and at times, Lectio Divina.

Sign up for Lissy's weekly newsletter "The Contemplative Window" or join our Facebook group here

Support the show by sharing it with a friend, rating it on your preferred podcast platform, or with a one-off or regular donation. Thank you so much!

Further details www.contemplativeathome.com.

All music by Pete Hatch.