RELAXATION

Begin with finding a comfortable sitting position in a fairly upright chair and with both feet flat on the floor. Sense your body to find out where the tensions are – these are often in the face, shoulders and hands. Try tensing and releasing the muscles to improve relaxation. Focus on where you are, becoming aware of what you can hear, listen to the passage in and out of your breathing and feel the sensation of the seat and floor. This will take a few minutes during which thoughts will drift into your mind but you can let them drift out just as easily like the comings and goings of fish in the sea.

THE CALL TO BE STILL

This is a litany taken from the Vision of Enoch who was a prophet and the great-grandfather of Noah. He is written about in the Old Testament in Genesis and in the New Testament in Hebrews. The litany can be spoken by one person on their own or by two people alternating. The rhythm of the response, “Be still. Know I am God” helps to quieten the mind and create stillness. At the end of the litany we rest for some moments in that stillness.

LISTEN TO AND MEDITATE ON THE WORD

There is a different reading for each Monday. Read this out loud, slowly and with pauses. This will become the focus of our meditation.
Aim for about 10 minutes’ silence. Phrases from the reading may come back to you or you may simply experience a deepening stillness within which you can listen.
Here, we enjoy the presence of God, become aware of the Spirit of God within us and share in the love of God around us.
The meditation is like a deep-sea dive and you will know when you are returning to the surface.
After you do, there is a short prayer of affirmation.

BE REMINDED

There are ways in which we can recall and be reminded of the quiet that we experienced and come back to an awareness of the presence of God. There are suggestions on the last page of the booklet. It is not necessary to follow the suggestions precisely but rather to find the one that works best for you and use that.