Anatomy of a Meditation

Every once in a while, it's nice to slow down and explain. There are many newbies here. I realized I don't have a check all post explaining what this area is all about. What are meditations? What is this lectionary thing I keep talking about? I will answer all these questions. Today we are going to delve into the anatomy of Fig Tree's meditations:

What are Meditations?

One of the key pieces of evangelism is knowing the community you are trying to reach. The internet community doesn't want to sit down at a computer for an hour and watch a worship service. The internet community doesn't even want to watch a minister deliver a sermon. So many want to learn, but the attention span of an user is so short, often times the written word is a better format for quick digestion.

The meditations are Fig Tree's version of sermons. It's in a written format because the written format is what people are most attracted to. People read faster than they watch. Also, sermons have a cadance. With a written mediation the facade is dropped, and only the message remains.

What Should be in a Meditation?

• With very few exceptions: A mediation should always begin with a scripture, usually from lectionary. Most of the times when meditations veer from lectionary, we have a guest mediation.
• There should be a commentary on the scripture. In other words, what sorts of facts do I feel you need to know from my weekly study of the scripture? I might be an illustration. I might describe how something was done from the time period. I could explain language or something else. I am a gal who loves brevity. I'm going to share, in as few words as possible, what the scripture means to me.
• There should always be a point, or a take-away. It's all well and good to understand what a scripture means in it's context, but we should also get an idea of what we need to do with it. 

What is Lectionary and the Christian Calendar?

The Christian Calendar: The Christian Calendar is repeating ritual that happens yearly. Different times of year is visually understood with a color.

• Purple: Advent and Lent are purple. (This time can also be light blue.) Advent happens four Sundays before Christmas to explore four themes: Hope, Joy, Peace and Love. Lent happens 40 days (excluding Sundays) before Easter. Lent literally means "springtime" because of the season it leads into. It is 40 days to represent the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness. It is a time of reflection and preparation for Easter.
• White: White is the color for Christmas/Epiphany and Easter. These seasons last longer than a single Sunday on the Christian Calendar. The Christmas time is concluded with Epiphany, which is 12 days after Christmas. (Ever wonder why the song is, "The Twelve Days of Christmas"? Well, now you do.) Epiphany celebrates the coming of the Magi, who many believe came 2-3 years after the birth of Christ. Easter, like Christmas is a season. It is 50 days long, and concludes at Pentecost.
• Red: Pentecost is the only red time. It is symbolic for the Disciples becoming Apostles through receiving of the Holy Spirit. In the scripture, the spirit lights on their head like flames. While Pentecost is the only red season, most ordinations use red. My ordination was red.
• Green: Ordinary time is what happens for the rest of the year. Green represents new life, like vegetation. Therefore, green is supposed to be symbolic for hope, as in the hope we have in our new life in Christ.

Lectionary: Lectionary uses the Christian Calendar and repeats on a three year cycle. The years begin the first Sunday in Advent. Each synoptic gospel has it's own year.

Year A: Matthew
Year B: Mark
Year C: Luke

Lectionary is made up of four scriptural readings each week: A Hebrew Bible, a Psalm, a Gospel, and an Epistle reading. The lectionary is meant to cover the major stories and lessons in the bible within a three year period. A minister, preaching a scripture a Sunday, could technically cover all the lectionary scripture in 12 years.

I used the revised common lectionary, which can be easily found on Vanderbilt's website, and there is even a subreddit devoted to it.

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