Yesterday I went on a day-long personal retreat. It was really great - renewing, refreshing! Exactly what I needed. I recently became aware of a retreat center that is literally walking distance from my apartment. It's run by the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It's a sprawling mansion on the top of a hill adjacent to the intersection of Los Feliz and Griffith Park Blvds.
The basic outline of my day, which I did partly with my friend, JR Woodward, was this:
10:30 am - 12:30 pm - prayer in solitude and silence
12:30 pm - 2:00 pm - lunch with JR - sharing from our morning experience
2:00 - 3:00 pm - focus on ordering my life (my roles and priorities)
I wanted to quickly share a discovery I made while praying in the morning. I was using my usual prayer book called Rhythms of Life: Celtic Daily Prayer, by David Adam.
I was spending time in Psalm 86:1-7 - praying it over and over again. Crying out to God in the words of this ancient poetry. (This is not something I make time to do very often and so it took a lot of repetition to break through). One thing I often do to deepen my experience of scripture is transcribe it by hand. Something about putting the words down, slowly, one by one, helps deepen the impression on me.
Anyway, after about an hour of looking at this text I realized that a chiastic structure was emerging. I know, I know...only a geeky pastor with too much seminary training could possibly see a chiastic structure in a middle of an intense time of prayer, but I did - and the impact on me was powerful.
So, if you want, check it out...Psalm 86. See if you can find it. I'll give you a clue, after the jump...
A 1) Incline your ear, O Lord...
B 2) Preserve my life...
C 2b) You are my God...
B' 4) Gladden the soul of y our servant...
A' 6) Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer...
One thing I often do to deepen my experience of scripture is transcribe it by hand. Something about putting the words down, slowly, one by one, helps deepen the impression on me.
Cool idea. I'll have to keep that in mind! I know, in other areas of life, the mere fact of writing something down tends to place more firmly in my mind.
Posted by: Hanan Merrill | December 21, 2007 at 11:00 AM