How Can I Be More Compassionate and Centered? Scripture Reading and Meditation:

Paul, one of the writers of the New Testament, stated this profound spiritual reality: By beholding we become changed. (2 Corinthians 3:18) It is, in fact, rooted in a significant psychological truth: we become what we think. And in his context, he was talking about beholding the glory of God as revealed in Jesus Christ. His point was that as a person spends time looking at the stories of God as revealed by Jesus’ life—the word “beholding” literally means “contemplating upon, reflecting on, thinking about”—that person is changed more and more into the likeness of God. “From one degree of glory to another,” he wrote.

Scripture reading and meditation have always been one of the central spiritual disciplines for transformation. It involves setting aside specific time to open Sacred Scripture and read it, allowing it to sink into the heart and soul, to affect the mind with its words, thoughts, concepts, stories, lessons.

Here are some helpful questions to ask when reading: What does this story, text, thought say to me right now? What is God trying to communicate to me? In what way(s) am I like the person being described in this story or section? What would it feel like to be this person in that place, at that time, and how would I respond in that person’s situation/circumstance? Where am I hearing God’s voice speaking to me in this passage/section/story? What am I learning right now?

Jesus once made the following spiritual observation: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4, KJV) In other words, as much as we need physical food to stay physically alive, so much more do we need spiritual food for our spiritual dimension to have life. Sacred Scripture reading and meditation (listening to the voice of God) help provide that necessary “food.”