The Bible in Personal Formation: A Dialogue

Abstract

Whereas the study of Scripture centres on exegesis the meditation of Scripture centres on internalising and personalising the message. The written word becomes a living word addressed to you .... Take a single event like the resurrection or a parable or a few verses or even a single word and allow it to take root in you. Seek to live the experience, remembering the encouragement of lgnatius of Loyola to apply all our senses to the task. Smell the sea. Hear the lap of the water along the shore. See the crowd. Feel the sun on your head and the hunger in your stomach. As you enter the story not as a passive observer but as an active participant remember that Jesus lives in the eternal now. Hence you can actually encounter the living Christ in the event, be addressed by his voice and be touched by his healing power.lt can be more than an exercise of the imagination; it can be a genuine confrontation. Jesus Christ will actually come to you. (Forster 1978: 26)