1. Practicing Receptivity
2. Practicing Pausing and Pondering
3. Practice looking at the essential

Whenever we discover how few of our thoughts we are able to collect in prayer we realize then how "fragmented" our life is in general and to what an alarming extent our ability for concentration and "composure" has atrophied.  This first section will focus on awakening and deepening those aspects of our life that have become stunted, blocked or at least endangered.  Here we will be looking at basic attitudes toward life which are also prerequisite for the life of faith.  These attitudes are important for the spiritual life to grow and develop in a healthy way.  Just as we must be able to receive the word of the Bible in order to live according to it, so we must be able to be still and composed inwardly in order to receive the gentle impulses of God that touch our life.  In order to become receptive, quiet within and aware in ever new ways, we must practice.  For this meditation  is helpful.
The word "meditation" has many levels of meaning. In this course the meaning we will use is the ability given to every person to receive what they encounter with their entire being and admit that into the center of their life.  The person who meditates does not encounter life as one who is in charge, with everything "in control", but as one who is a receiver, partaker, and participant.  In meditation we open ourselves to reality like a small child who receives a well told fairy tale "spellbound".  The child listens squatted on the floor with eyes "hanging" on every word of the storyteller.  The little face reflects how deeply the child has become "engaged" in what is heard.  When tears begin to flow or the face lights up or when a deep sigh of relief comes after everything has turned out all right, it is clear how much the child has entered into the fate of the characters in the fairy story.
This ability to see the world seriously in a meditative way is endangered for many people today.  Along with this an essential dimension of being fully human is also threatened.  This is revealed  in various ways.  The concern to recover this aspect determines the material for the suggested practices in the first section.

People frequently speak of "mental overload" today.  From childhood we are accustomed to dealing with questions and demands first and foremost with our mind.  In Scripture the mind and the human spirit are highly valued.  In fact, the Bible view the human spirit so uniquely that it uses it as a symbol when it speaks of the "Holy Spirit".  However, when the spirit is too closely identified with reason, other important aspects of human existence are more and more suppressed: fantasy, spontaneity, emotion, intuition and the capacity to receive life.  Are we becoming so shaped by technology in our understanding of life that, to a large extent, we have forgotten that the important things in life are not "made" but "received"?  We must remind ourselves that true love is like sleep which comes quickly.  It is always an unearned gift and cannot be forced.  Therefore, the first week offers different helps to deepen and recover the basic attitude of receptivity.  This may mean a complete turn around for many.  It cannot be accomplished quickly at the outset.  Whoever is not in need of such initial help is very fortunate.

Another matter closely related establishes the content of the second exercise week. In an age where express trains race past us at speeds of over 60 miles an hour we are also tempted to do as much as possible and as quickly as possible in every area of life.  In such conditions we no longer see the value of pausing and pondering inwardly.  True rest, letting go, dreaming, enjoying and savoring come off poorly.  However, for one's inner (and also outer!) health there is need for a genuine rhythm of activity and rest: reaching out to others and pulling back into oneself, taking in the new and processing what has already been taken in.  When this rhythm is upset, life is upset.

Therefore, we must practice deliberately lingering with something - looking, listening, feeling, "savoring" - disregarding the notion that important things are being missed.  The constant concern that we are missing out on something can sometimes be so severe that it becomes difficult to set our work aside so that we can maintain a period of free time for God in the day.  Meister Eckhart said, "When one is with God nothing can be missed".  We must take this risk in faith and discover the truth that meditation is not time lost for living, rather, it is time won for living.

Finally, we must continue to practice focusing on what is essential.  Therefore, we must decide what is important and what is not.  The art of discernment is important in making decisions.  It is a foundation for realizing the spiritual life.  When we conscientiously practice deepening our ability to use symbols, we are gradually and with less effort led back to the fundamental core of all that we encounter.  An ability to use symbols makes every life richer.  Therefore, as a Christian, this ability is a prerequisite for a new understanding of the Bible, of worship and of our life before God in general.

The concern for the third week is how to use the Bible in a regularly scheduled way so that we come to a genuine encounter with a personal God.  Here the ability to use symbols and the ability to make decisions are closely connected.  The ability to make decisions is determined by the criteria that we set for our life.  In living out the Christian life these criteria take on a personal dimension.  As we are encountered by God in the witness of the Bible we know that in all our decisions, large and small, we are in the presence of God and under the loving intentions of God.  It is important to come to know the loving intentions of God better, so that we are able to make a decision for God.  Our decision for God is in turn necessary in order to come to know God more deeply.