Praying With Mandalas

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MANDALAS

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A Color ful, Contemplative Practice

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S H A R O N S E Y FA RT H G A R N E R

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CO NTENTS

Acknowledgments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Introduction: Being with God on Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Ten Tips for Contemplative Coloring. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Chapter One: Lectio Divina. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Tips for Getting Started with Lectio Divina. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Questions for Reflection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Prayer of Dedication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

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Chapter Two: Intercessory Prayer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Tips for Getting Started with Intercessory Prayer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Questions for Reflection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Prayer of Dedication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

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Chapter Three: Centering Prayer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Tips for Getting Started with Centering Prayer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Questions for Reflection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Prayer of Dedication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Chapter Four: Ignatian Examen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Tips for Getting Started with the Ignatian Examen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

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Questions for Reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Prayer of Dedication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

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Conclusion: Finding Your Belly of the Whale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Closing Prayer of Dedication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

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Introduction

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BEING WITH GOD ON PURPOSE

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A grandmother and her energetic young granddaughter were walking in the woods one crisp fall day. The leaves were mid-transformation, shades of deep green, orange, red, and yellow. The girl skipped ahead along the path while her grandmother walked peacefully behind. Every now and then the young girl would stop long enough to ask a question or two.

“Grammy, why do leaves change color?”

“Grammy, where do squirrels sleep at night?”

“Grammy, how come I can’t fly like the birds?”

The grandmother lovingly and patiently answered the questions as best she could before her granddaughter would continue to run ahead of her on the trail.

Finally, the little girl slowed her pace until she and her grandmother were walking side by side. She reached up and slid her small hand into her grandmother’s gentle fingers. “Grammy,” she said breathlessly, “have you ever seen God?” The grandmother smiled down at her granddaughter. She stopped walking and allowed a moment for sacred silence as she pondered her answer. Finally, she responded: “Have I ever seen God? Truth is, my dear, it’s getting so that I hardly see anything else.”

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Over the years, that grandmother has learned to view the world around her with the eyes of her heart enlightened. Her wisdom provides a much needed example to us in our busy world today. Her story reminds us to walk slowly, savor the silence, and open the eyes of our hearts so With the eyes of your heart enlightened, that we see God’s constant presence. I would love you may know what is the hope to which for the distractions that cloud my vision to fade he has called you. away so that, like this grandmother, I might see —Ephesians 1:18 the world around me with the eyes of my heart enlightened. But how? The answer—both infinitely simple and beautifully complex—is prayer.

I define prayer as “being with God on purpose.” Prayer is the way we intentionally open the eyes of our hearts to God. The definition of prayer is simple; yet, with so many different ways to pray, we may be unsure of how to start or where to focus. For centuries, monks, 9

BEING WITH GOD ON PURPOSE

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I began wondering how I could create simple mandala templates designed for use with specific methods of prayer. I focused on four prayer styles that I have found especially meaningful: lectio divina (savoring the words of scripture), intercessory prayer (remembering the needs of others), Centering Prayer (listening deeply for the still small voice of God), and the Ignatian Examen (seeing God in daily living). I shared some of these ideas with a graphic designer friend, and together we developed the four mandala found in this book. In brief, she and I designed the lectio divina mandala with lines around the outer ring for writing words of scripture that resonate with us while we pray.

Lectio Divina— The intercessory prayer mandala provides space savoring the words to include names and specific prayer requests for of scripture others. The centering prayer mandala draws our attention toward the center as we color and pray.

Intercessory Prayer— And the Ignatian Examen mandala helps us see remembering the God in the specific events of our everyday lives. needs of others The following four chapters will offer more details about each design.

Centering Prayer— The mandalas in this book have become a listening for the still small refreshing way for me to focus my prayer time. voice of God When coloring, the distractions that often derail my prayers stay at bay, allowing me the space to Ignatian Examen— be with God on purpose. I can more easily leave seeing God behind my Martha-like worries and embrace the in daily life opportunity to sit at the feet of Jesus with a colored pencil in my hand. Through the spiritual practice of contemplative coloring, I have found a renewed sense of spiritual joy and relationship with God. My prayers are more focused, more enjoyable, and more meaningful. Even my prayers of lamentation hold greater honesty and connection to the healing balm of God’s presence.

I have prayed using these mandalas in a whole host of ways and places. I try to carry my mandala journal and colored pencils with me wherever I go. As a result, I have colored and prayed in places as diverse as the top of Piestewa Peak in Arizona, a local hospital waiting room, a beach in California, and a village in Liberia. I have prayed with these mandalas to process a child leaving for college, the death of a dear friend’s son, my reaction to terrorist attacks, illnesses of family and friends, struggles with self-doubt, birthday celebrations, and much more.

After praying with these mandala many times over, I feared that I might become bored using the same design again and again. Interestingly, I have found quite the opposite to be true. Rather than feeling that these four designs are limiting or repetitive, I am finding them

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LECTIO DIVINA

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Chapter One

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My father is a wordsmith. He crafts words in much the same way that a carpenter carves wood or a blacksmith forges iron. He paints, chisels, molds, and sculpts his words so that they hold a beautiful and unexpected depth of meaning. When I was younger, I did not fully appreciate this gift. My sister and I would giggle when he would say something like, “Please illuminate the lamp to its maximum intensity,” instead of simply saying, “Please turn on the light.”

My dad expresses his love for words through poetry. Over the years, he has linguistically captured The man memories of walks with grandchildren, conversations whose wife is a painter, with friends, awkward high school dances, graduations, birthdays, and so much more. Often when my and the woman dad and I are together, he will pull out a poem that whose husband is a poet, he is working on and ask if he can read it to me. He love, talk, believes that hearing the words aloud allows us to get bored, do separate things, most fully experience their meaning. but when it was time to do it, At my parents’ fiftieth wedding anniversary, my in the arts, I mean, dad read a poem he had written. There wasn’t a dry he writes pictures that live, eye in the church fellowship hall that snowy Januand she paints poems that breathe. ary afternoon. Everyone in attendance knew how far this gentle, word-loving man had come in relearn—Len Seyfarth ing how to speak after suffering a severe stroke over twenty years ago. Reading his poem aloud was a testimony to his tenacity. My dad understands that carefully and lovingly chosen words are a window into the deepest experiences of shared humanity. His deliberate reading invited listeners to slow down, savor the words, and seek their meaning.

This insight from my father’s poetry reading parallels the prayerful practice of lectio divina, which invites us to slow down, savor the words of scripture, and seek their meaning. Through 19

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PR AYING WITH M ANDAL AS

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lectio divina (Latin for “sacred reading”) we listen carefully for God’s still small voice as revealed to us through God’s Holy Word. We let go of the distractions that fill our lives so that we can sit for a moment at Jesus’ feet. We savor a small selection of verses rather than feast on a longer reading. From this place of sacred stillness, we seek to better understand God’s message for us beyond the surface of the words. And in so doing, we grow deeper in our understanding of and relationship with God. Lectio divina is an ancient form of prayer that has been practiced by people of faith for centuries. One of the earliest references to its use comes from the teachings of Origen in the third century. He suggested that we seek a deeper wisdom beyond the surface of the written word. He believed that we could understand this deeper meaning by letting the words touch the listener. By the sixth century, lectio divina had become an essential part of monastic life and was formalized as part of the Rule of Saint While you attend to this lectio divina, Benedict. Daily life in all Benedictine communiseek aright and with unwavering faith in ties included time specifically dedicated to sacred God the hidden sense which is present in 1 reading, in addition to daily liturgy and work.2 most passages of the divine Scriptures.

Through the Middle Ages and beyond, the —Origen, Letter to Gregory practice of lectio divina evolved into four stages: lectio, meditatio, oratio, and contemplatio.3 To make these Latin terms more understandable, however, I have found it helpful to refer to the stages of lectio divina in the more modern terms: read, savor, speak, and listen. For some, the linear progression through these four stages provides a helpful foundation for prayer. For others, a more free-flowing progression through the stages is appealing.

Whatever method we choose to practice lectio divina, we must remember that we are walking alongside a tremendous cloud of witnesses who have also found this method of prayer to be a meaningful and essential part of their faith journeys. As we prepare to practice lectio divina, Seek in reading and you will find in medilet’s remind ourselves to slow down, savor the tating; knock in mental prayer and it will words, and seek their meaning. The four stages are be opened to you by contemplation.4 designed to lead us into a deeper understanding of —Guigo, the Carthusian God’s Holy Word as it pertains to our lives today.

1. Read (lectio). Select a short passage of scripture, and read it aloud slowly. Listen for a single word or short phrase that stands out and speaks to your heart. What word(s) resonate most deeply with your life in this present moment? Your answer to this question will become the focus of your prayer. Limit your scripture passage to just a few verses so that you can focus deeply rather than broadly.

Lectio Divina

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Date: Location: Scripture:

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

—Psalm 119:105

© 2016 Belly of the Whale Spiritual Direction & Retreat Ministries

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Q U E ST I O N S F O R R E F L E C T I O N

1. How is lectio divina similar or different from the ways you have read scripture in the past?

2. How did it feel to read the scriptures aloud rather than silently?

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3. Did the four elements of lectio divina provide a helpful structure or a hindrance to your engagement with God’s Word?

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4. Looking back over the lectio divina mandalas you have created, what insights did you gain during the process? What themes emerged?

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Chapter Two

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Several blind men were journeying through the jungle when they came upon a large animal they had never before encountered.

The first man cautiously approached the animal, walked up to its large, broad side, and said to his companions, “Why, this animal is very much like a wall.”

The second man stepped forward and grabbed the animal’s tail. “This animal is more like a rope.”

Yet another of the men reached out and touched the animal’s huge ear and said, “You are both wrong. It is more like a large fan.”

Finally, the fourth man carefully walked up to the animal and ran right into its trunk. “Oh my!” he exclaimed. “This animal is more like a snake than anything you have said so far.”

A fierce argument ensued between the men, each trying to convince the others that his own explanation was best. Ever so gently, a dove landed on the back of the animal.

“Gentlemen, quiet please,” said the dove. “There is no need to argue about who is best. The animal that stands before you is an elephant. You each encountered it in your own unique way.

There is more to this great animal than any single person can know. It is indeed like a wall, a rope, a fan, and a snake. You are each right. You are each wrong. Listen to one another, and you will more fully understand.”1

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Like the blind men, we often become so focused on our own experiences that we fail to see the proverbial elephant in the room. The ups and downs of our own lives consume us, and we forget to consider the experiences of others. We often fall into the trap of believing that the only legitimate perspective is our own. As a result, we talk at one another rather than with one another. Intercessory prayer invites us to listen and learn from one another so that we might recognize God’s presence in everyone we meet. It helps us remove our blinders so that we may see others through the lens of God’s love and compassion.

No two people experience the world in the same way. Each of us is exquisitely unique.

Yet, we do share one commonality: We are all children of God. We are all created in God’s image—no one is excluded. God’s Spirit runs through the veins of everyone we meet—friends, 47

Intercessory Prayer Prayer Focus:

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Pray for someone you know and love.

© 2016 Belly of the Whale Spiritual Direction & Retreat Ministries

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C E N T E R I N G P R AY E R

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Chapter Three

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On Tuesdays, I spend part of my day at the pottery studio, a welcome break from work and my to-do list. At the studio, I meet with friends and make a mess of myself with water and clay. When I first learned how to throw on the potter’s wheel, I quickly discovered that the most important part of the entire process was centering. Without the ball of clay perfectly centered on the wheel, I found pulling up the sides for a bowl or pressing out the edges for a plate to be nearly impossible. Even having the clay just a little off-center meant that the entire bowl or plate became uneven, began to wobble, and eventually collapsed in a heap or flew off the wheel entirely.

Centering is not easy. I have experienced many off-kilter clay calamities over the years. However, every single ball of clay has a center. The potter simply needs to be patient enough to find it. Beginning with both hands cupped loosely around the spinning clay, one of the potter’s hands slides lightly over the clay as it turns. The other hand stays steady and still so as to gently but firmly guide the lumpy ball of clay toward its true center. This point of stillness amidst the movement of the wheel is the essence of the centering process.

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Centered around God’s image, the Divine Potter spins us into existence. Each one of us is a finely crafted work of art made from the dust of the earth and created in the image of God. We all encounter days when we feel less like works of art and more like a lumpy balls of clay. But no matter how much of a mess we make of our lives or how off-kilter we may feel, we can rest O Lord, you are our Father; assured that God’s sacredness is at the center of we are the clay, and you are our potter; who we are. we are all the work of your hand.

Centering Prayer is a simple spiritual prac—Isaiah 64:8 tice that returns us to our sacred center. Through Centering Prayer, we strive to free ourselves from distractions so we may focus on God’s image at the center of our being. In other words, we seek to be still and know God. Stillness can seem like quite the commodity in our fast-paced world. However, through spiritual

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“Be still, and know that I am God!” —Psalm 46:10

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“Excuse me,” said an ocean fish.

“You are older than I, so can you tell me where to find this thing they call the ocean?”

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Chapter Four

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“The ocean,” said the older fish, “is the thing you are in now.”

“Oh, this? But this is water. What I’m seeking is the ocean,” said the disappointed fish as he swam away to search elsewhere.1

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Our quest to understand God’s greatness can consume us to the point that we forget God’s nearness. We ask the wise ones in our midst, “Where is God?” When they answer, “God is present in the ordinary events of our everyday lives,” we are tempted to swim away disappointed. “But this is just me and my humdrum life,” we respond, perplexed. “I am seeking something much greater than this!” We turn away and search elsewhere for that which is right before our very eyes—that is, if only we had the eyes to see. God’s loving presence is the sacred water in which we swim unaware.

Without the eyes to see, we continue searching for a spectacular moment of divine revelation. We busy ourselves looking for God on the mountaintop, and we fail to see God right beside us—at work, in traffic, at the grocery store, in the school pickup line, or at our own kitchen table. We long for the indisputable affirmation of God’s presence in a “burning bush” moment. We want the heavens to open, the angels to sing, and God’s voice to offer comfort, clarity, and wisdom. We forget that the ordinary stuff of daily life is extraordinarily sacred.

God is in all things—if only we would open our eyes to see.

The Examen, developed by Ignatius of Loyola, helps us to open our eyes and see God in all things. The Examen is a practical way of focusing our attention on God’s presence in our daily lives. This method of prayer invites us to see the events of our day not only with a 103

Ignatian Examen Location:

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About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed.7 —John Wesley

© 2016 Belly of the Whale Spiritual Direction & Retreat Ministries