You have just arrived to meet with your young people, a bit late and somewhat rushed. To increase your anxiety, the meeting place is chaotic: chairs must be arranged, trash needs to be picked up. You get the group to help set up the place and make it neater. It is time to begin. What do you do? Of course, start with prayer. You ask for a volunteer to open with prayer. And now we can begin.

My hunch is that this scenario is not an uncommon one. More often than not, prayer is used more as a ritual than as an act of spiritual nurture.

We will discuss the disciplines of meditation, prayer, and journaling. These disciplines are not spiritual luxuries, they are vital to nurturing and enabling one another on our journeys. They are not methods of magic, they are gifts of growth, strength, and vision. I hope the following ideas will help to preserve meditation, prayer, and journaling and encourage young people to experience their discipleship fully.

Meditation:
The Discipline of the Mind

What Is It?

Meditation is a discipline that probably originated when humans found the need to experience silence in their minds rather than clutter. Meditation means many things to many people, depending on individual culture, religious tradition, and psychological orientation.

The original and basic aim of meditation is enlightenment. By means of a conscious mental process, the meditator empties the mind of all present thoughts (shoulds, oughts, demands) and focuses on replenishing and nurturing the mind with the light of the Divine.

Why?

In Matthew 12:43-45 a parable is told about man who was possessed with an evil spirit. Although the evil spirit left, it returned later to the same person, after having had a difficult time finding a new environment. When the evil spirit returned, it found the same person with a mind now cleaned and organized, yet empty. The spirit rested once again with him and soon brought along seven other evil spirits. Meditation is useless if its aim is only to empty the mind and not replenish it. For a Christian, the discipline of meditation is not only to let go but also to receive the strength, nurture, and vision to live in the world.

Who Can Do Meditation?

Meditation is the one common practice shared by all major religions. It is available alike to the agnostic, unbeliever, Hindu, Jew, Muslim, and Christian. Meditation is for the person who desires to be enlightened and strengthened in a relationship with the Creator.

When?

Meditation is a discipline that demands a commitment to consistency. It may take the form of ten minutes of repeating a mantra, thirty minutes of yoga, or thirty minutes of focusing on an icon or cross. The element of consistency is required.

Ideas to Incorporate into Youth Ministries

• Create a time of silence for some guided meditation or centering when beginning or ending time with your youth group.
• Incorporate a time for meditation in a retreat.
• Use the practice of breathing slowly and steadily as a way to help young people center before a devotional.
• Encourage young people to read about the discipline of meditation.
• Use candles in your time of silence.

Prayer:
Discipline of the Soul

What Is It?

Whereas meditation is available to the agnostic and unbeliever, prayer is unique in that it demands the element of faith: faith in God.

Why?

As Christians, we have been taught the need to pray by Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer. The New Testament writers repeatedly tell us of occasions and events where prayer was practiced and taught by Jesus: in the midst of breaking bread, healing persons, as a request of the disciples, with acts of forgiveness. We pray not only because we were taught but because it is our active communication with the One who is our source of life, vision, calling, and strength.

Who and When?

Because the discipline of prayer will lead us not only to our heart but also to the heart of God, it is important to pray at a time and place when we are free to speak to God without interruptions or anxieties and can "be still and know who God is." Both individual prayer and community prayer are important to our lives of faith. We are called not only to be individuals of faith but to be a collective body, who need one another for the living of these days. We come to God individually or as a group, bringing our prayers of adoration, petition, confession, thanksgiving, and intercession. We prey collectively in worship, when sharing meals, in preparation for exams, in thanksgiving for birthdays, graduation, and rites of passage, and when interceding for those experiencing times of pain, sadness, and grief.

Where?

We pray in community gatherings; in hospitals, schools, jails, bedrooms, chapels, open fields, valleys, cities, on mountaintops and under trees; in kitchens, parish houses, dorm rooms, cars, ballparks, and offices-wherever the presence of God is known, and that is everywhere, yes, everywhere.

Ideas to Incorporate into Youth Ministries

• Hold a candlelight vigil for peace, have a hunger walk, or support a social justice issue.
• Write litanies and prayers to be included in the bulletin.
• Have young people examine prayers from various traditions (e.g., Jewish, Greek Orthodox, Desert Fathers, prayers from Anglican sources).
• Include prayer during a time of reconciliation when there has been a disagreement or friction between People.

Journaling:
Discipline of the Heart

What Is It?

Journaling is a time when we record experiences, ideas, or reflections for private use. It is a gift we give ourselves. The writings might be intense jovial, detailed, or general, in the form of prose, poetry, or sketches. Whatever the style, it is your writing for your own use. It is a history of your heart, your soul, and your mind. No one will question it, no one will criticize it, no one will "should on it." because it is your gift to yourself.

Where and When?

There are no time demands on a journal. However, the more consistent you are with your journal keeping, the more you become aware of yourself and your life. Like any discipline, it must be done with deliberation. Pick a time and place when you will not be distracted or disturbed. Remember. this is your time with yourself.

How?

You decide. Perhaps it will be in the form of a poem, a letter, or a drawing. The unique element about journaling is that it is for private use. Journaling is an expression of what becomes part of our sacred ground. This expression can be positive or negative, fantasy or reality. Whatever it is, it is yours.

Ideas to Incorporate into Youth Ministries

• During times of retreat, provide time for journal writing.
• Read journal entries of early and contemporary spiritual leaders during times of centering and devotion.
• Provide journal-writing workshops.
• Have young people write letters to the President on such subjects as capital punishment, AIDS/HIV, or hunger and mail them to themselves.

Summary

The disciplines of meditation, prayer, and journaling are essential and significant tools in helping young people on their particular path as Christians. These are gifts that enhance our wholeness to be disciples "in but not of the world."

Young people are going through transitions from childhood to adulthood, from following their parents' instructions to making their own decisions, from hearing about "a" God to claiming their own God. Young people need to know that it is good to grow spiritually, to be fed spiritually, and to experience the Divine Presence outside of Sunday morning worship.

There is nothing romantic about these disciplines, and living out these disciplines is a commitment to faith formation and not tradition. These disciplines take time. They need to be nurtured, supported, and encouraged. Do not demand; invite. Do not discourage questions; see growth come from doubt. Remember, our call is to be faithful. As we play, work, struggle, cry, and laugh with our young people, we also pray, meditate, and learn to live in wholeness with each other.