Spiritual Disciplines for the Soul: Ignatian Meditation
William Gaultiere, Ph.D. © 2005
“Jesus always used stories and illustrations… when speaking to the crowds. In fact, he never spoke to them without using such parables” (Matthew 13:34, NLT). He knew the value of imagination to teach truth and inspire relationship with God and so he used it routinely as a master storyteller. His parables and other illustrations were so effective that people passed them on to one another and remembered them their whole lives long. And his close followers pondered his stories and came back to him to ask him questions about their deeper meaning and relevance to their personal lives.
We know that everything Jesus taught others he was living himself. He didn’t ask people to do things that he wasn’t doing himself! So consider his imaginative, heart-warming teaching style. The only way he could do that was because he was doing it routinely in his own private meditations. I believe it’s because Jesus visualized in his meditations on Scripture – as well as on nature, people, and God – that he gave us such rich images for God, us, life, and our relationship with him.
St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491 - 1556) was converted to Christ by reading gospel stories that engaged his imagination. He developed a style of meditation that emphasized imagining yourself with Jesus in selected gospel texts. This approach is at the heart of the “Spiritual Exercises” that Ignatius developed as a thirty-day retreat for his followers, called “Jesuits.” Christians from diverse traditions have done this, often using a less intensive approach that doesn’t require 30 consecutive days.
Ignatian contemplation is a delightful approach to meditation. It’s similar to Lectio Divina in that you read Scripture by reflecting, listening, and responding. But it is distinctive in its focus on Jesus in the gospels and it’s special use of imagination and the senses so that we hear, see, smell, taste, and feel everything in the passage. Ignatius’ approach moves gently and personally through seven steps:
1. Silence. Quiet yourself and focus your conscious awareness on God’s loving presence.
2. Gospel. Read the selected gospel passage. Focus on Jesus and notice details.
3. Pick a place in the story. Find the place in the story that you need to be. Stand in the place of the character
you identify with, be an observer, or companion someone in the story.
4. Petition. Ask the Lord for what you need from him in your time of contemplation.
5. Enter the story. Re-read the story. Use your all your senses – see, hear, touch, smell, taste – to re-create
the story with you in it.
6. Listen. Stay in the story as you wait for God to show you (in pictures) or tell you (in words) what this passage
means for you personally.
7. Respond. Talk to God about what he’s revealed to you.
Practicing the Ignatian approach to meditation will enrich your Bible reading, teaching you to enter Scripture with your senses, especially your imagination.
