Recently I've started practicing what is called "passage meditation". This is where you take a short chunk of Scripture and repeat it prayerfully over and over for a period of time, until it is driven deep into your consciousness, and it becomes a kind of prayer or mantra for you. It is based on ideas such as this:
Psalms 119.11 I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
How does one hide the word of God in your heart? While there may be many methods, one sure fire recipe that has been used across time, across cultures, and across religions is this: Mindful, committed, intentional, repetition. Repetition. Repetition. When we repeat something over and over again intentionally, it will bubble up later in daily life, in stressful situations, and even in dreams.
Thus, I have adapted the practice outlined by Eknath Easwaran to my busy lifestyle, and existing spiritual practice. Easwaran suggests 30 minutes of silent repetition of your passage each day. But ain't nobody got time for that! So, what I do is this:
1. I have a daily practice of reading Scripture straight for about 10 minutes a day. Usually that is about 2 chapters of the Bible (or similar sized reading from other Scriptures or devotional material). From this daily reading, I choose a few sentences or verses that really spoke to me that day. Generally I look for verses that give life and hope, not verses of judgment or condemnation.
2. I re-write or re-type these verses phrase by phrase, so it is easier to repeat and meditate on. Sometimes I may paraphrase these passages, or even re-translate them from Greek or Hebrew. Usually I keep these passages in the notes on my smartphone, although if you journal that might work better for you.
3. I spend 3-5 minutes repeating the passage slowly and prayerfully after I have written it phrase by phrase. While Easwaran advocates repetition with eyes closed after you have memorized the passage, I do not find this necessary. I simply read it slowly and intentionally over and over. I find that once I have done this a couple of dozen times, I have it memorized. And then I may repeat it with eyes closed.
4. If I have opportunity, I may go back and repeat this practice several times if I have time later in the day. I have found the following opportunities particularly well-suited to this kind of meditation: Waiting on people to show up; Sitting in a boring meeting or conference call; Using the restroom. Basically any time you could be tempted to waste time doing nothing on your phone, you could meditate on Scripture instead.
I have found this to be a very effective method of practicing the presence of God, and internalizing the message of Scripture. As a result, on social media I have been posting the Scriptures I have been meditating on for others as well. I hope you find them, and the method of passage meditation, helpful.
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