Contemplating With The Psalms - Lament

Using verses from Psalm 130 as a foundation, this brief contemplative practice uses body scan and breath to bring self-awareness to any discomfort we may feel. God will be with us in the pleasant and unpleasant of our lives.

Transcript

We begin the pilgrimage song with Psalm 130, A psalm of lament, Verses 1 and 2. Out of the depths I call to you, O Lord. O Lord, Listen to my cry. Let your ears be attentive to my plea for mercy. Begin to breathe where you are and discover right here and right now what came up for you in this cry in the depths. In this reading of the psalm of lament, Maybe an unpleasant feeling came up for you. Maybe it came up in your body. Maybe you're feeling it right now. See if you can feel the sensation and silently note to yourself, Unpleasant, Unpleasant. You might ask yourself, What part of this is drawing on unpleasantness? What is my sensation? Is it a sense of burning or tightness or pressure? Breathing now into this sensation, What happens to it? What happens to our lament? What's your attitude? Is it hard or easy to stay with this? Can you feel resistance in your body, In your mind? Now letting go of the unpleasant sensation, Let's move to something that feels neither unpleasant or pleasant. Scan your body for a neutral feeling. Rest your attention here. What does neutral feel like to you? What happens to your attention? Is it hard or easy to stay with this neutral sensation? What happens to the sensation, This feeling or even this thought as you imagine to breathe into this area in your body? Now letting go of the neutral feeling and sweeping the body for a pleasant sensation. This doesn't have to be something big or maybe just a sense of ease or relaxation in a specific area of your body. Your fingertips, Your eyes, Your hands. How about the breath? A sense of something easy, Relaxing. We may be crying out to the Lord, Imploring the Lord to listen to our cry. There's so much more going on within us. Let us rise knowing and sensing that God will be with us in the unpleasant, Neutral and pleasant of our lives. Take a moment to breathe and to sense the presence of God. God is with you and will never let you go.