Suggested Reflection Time ~30 Minutes

Preparation (~ 5 minutes)

Take a few moments to center yourself and create a space to listen and imagine. Some techniques that others have used include:

• Deep Breaths
• Repeating a word or phrase that has a holy or spiritual connotation for you.
• Imagining yourself in a space you find tranquil and comfortable.
• Making a physical gesture of reverence or placement.

Opening Prayer (~ 1 minute)

___________, open me to your presence. Help me create or find a space to hear you calling me by name.

Reflection Text:

Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. To everyone who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give a white stone, and on the white stone is written a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it.

(Revelation 2:17)

When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, 'What is it?' For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, 'It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat. The house of Israel called it manna; it was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.

(Exodus 16:14-15, 31)

Reflection (~20 minutes)

I desire nourishment in my life.

I read the Reflection Text to consider God's creative action in naming & sustaining.

Using my imagination I create the white stone in my mind. Adding detail I consider the texture, size and weight. I feel the stone in my hand, turning it to examine the stone from every angle, slowly moving closer to the text. I picture the font and color of the text, the language of the characters. Slowly I read the name, letting the impressions settle within me. I consider my reactions to the name, treating every emotion as valid. I look back at my history, listening for echoes where I've heard this name before. I look ahead, and consider how I can live into this new name whose fullness is known only to the one who has received it.

Holding the stone as an invaluable treasure, I place it against my skin. I feel it's weight sinking into me, drawing it's revelations into myself.

After I have taken the stone with my inside of myself, I open myself to the sensation of manna. I imagine myself in a wilderness, feeling the temperature, seeing the landscape and smelling the earth.

I enter the scene, watching as the morning dew evaporates, leaving a fine flakey substance on the ground. I pick up this substance, feeling the flakes stick to my hand, embracing my confusion. What is it? I ask. I hear the response of those who've gone before. It is bread, food that has been given to you. I lift the flakes to my tongue. I taste the sweetness of the wafers and feel their fullness enter my body.

With the sweetness of manna still on my tongue I consider how I have been nourished in this reflection. I open myself to the experience of satisfaction. Returning to the Reflection Text I consider how I am changed through their fullness.

Conversation (~3 minutes)

I end in a short conversation with ____________, giving thanks.