Immersed in the Word

Jesus rebuked him and said, “Quiet! Come out of him!” The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him. (Mark 1: 25-36)

In this scriptural setting I am given a glimpse of what it was like to witness the Son of God exorcising a demon from an ordinary person. When I think about this one event, it makes me wonder how truly powerful Jesus was, yet how fragile he allowed himself to be later on at the end of his public ministry. A perfect example of how we are given the power of choice in our lives and how we can draw upon a higher power when we are too weak to respond effectively to a situation ourselves. Like those annoying impulses that cloud our mind as we try to concentrate on something as important as prayer or like the impulse isle at the grocery store as we check out. It is especially annoying if we are hungry and in a hurry; the urge often times gets the better of us and we buy purely on impulse rather than on what we need. This is what I mean by “immersed in the word.”
A friend recently gave me the idea of using my imagination to use scripture in this way as a means or an alternative to traditional methods of prayer. Because I often struggle with prayer, this method in particular intrigues me as I can utilize the thoughts that come to me freely to overcome the distractions or impulses that interfere with it; especially when I find it difficult to do focus. I am sure many people find themselves in this dilemma. The trick is to make the scripture a part of your own life as if it were happening right here and now, that way it does not fall to the wayside like so many distractions in our daily life tend to do.
If I think hard enough about a particular verse or line or even the context in which it is presented as it relates to my own personal experience, perhaps then I can avoid the pitfalls of distraction or the lack of prayerful intention. Like the gaps in my journal or this blog, I can find a way to fill the empty spaces with fruitful insight and establish a devotion to prayer that is essential to a life of contemplation. Perhaps then I could start to see some progress in my daily thought process and improve my daily prayer.
As the possessed person in the synagogue must have distracted everyone who had come to worship that day, it is not hard to imagine someone stepping in to restore a sense of order and calm that Jesus did at that moment when he commanded the unclean spirit to be gone. I know I would have been astounded to see such a thing occur right in front of me. This is why I find it quite easy to sit down today and put the experience to use as a means of prayer. And so I close today with a final thought and a concluding prayer of my own. Dear Lord, make my day as fruitful as the words that describe your life on earth among us and may the opportunities which come along moment by moment inspire me to keep vigilant in my daily life of contemplation. I thank you for your guidance on this journey and I pray for the continued inspiration in which you give me to help others along the way as well. Amen