SadhanaOriental Meditation and Christian Prayer
Prayer with fantasy
[13]Jesus comes in history of my life – 2
Let’s pray in praise of God, using our imagination and our past unhappy events. We would be happy if we could praise God in any situation. But when things don’t go as we intend, it is difficult, or even impossible, to praise God. But God knows everything and he dominates everything. If we believe this, we can praise God even when we are in a difficulty. God dominates good and evil. Therefore, he dominates agony, too. Nothing can hide from God. He dominates everything. Because God dominates our joy and pain, we praise him.
The Bible says, “God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good (Genesis 1:31).” God dominates everything and finds it good. During Holy Week, we sing “felix culpa (blessed fault).” God the Father dominates the Passion of Jesus. Human sin is the reason for the Passion of Jesus. Let’s praise God, who dominates everything, through this meditation.
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First, sit in silence for a while and calm yourself.
As a first step, recall one of the unhappy bitter events you had during the period between ten and five years ago. As a second step, remember a recent unhappy bitter event.
Now, we start a metitative prayer.
Think about a bitter unhappy event you had between ten and five years ago. What kind of event was it? Were you suffering then? Remember the place. Was it in a house, or outside? If you were at home, look around the room. If you were outside, look at the landscape. Hear sound. Touch things. What is happening? Why are you suffering? What kind of negative feeling do you have? Is it fear, worry, or anger? Re-experience the emotion as much as possible. (7 minutes)
Jesus comes in the event. Look at Jesus. How does he behave? Is he looking at you? Is he coming to you and talking to you? Or are you talking to Jesus? Stay with Jesus for a while. How does your feeling change? Try to be focused as much as possible. (3 minutes)
Now, let’s proceed to the second step. Remember a recent bitter unhappy event. You are suffering because of that event. What kind of event is it? Is it fear, illness, or mistake? Reflecting on the event, think as follows: “God dominates good and evil. As God the Father dominated the Passion of his Son Jesus, he now dominates my event.” Based on such a thought, praise God through the bitter event. How does it go? Can you praise him, or is it difficult? (5 minutes)
Sing Tenrei Seika (Japanese liturgical hymn book) #130 “Shu o Tataeyou (Praise the Lord)” to conclude this meditative prayer.