Meditation practices around the world have focused on shedding that which is unnecessary. Within the Christian tradition, this idea of emptiness has taken the name Kenosis. It begins with the idea that God emptied himself of his god-like properties to become a human being.
This is the first in a series of meditation intent on cultivating an emptiness within our own selves, in imitation of Jesus. We can find a place deep within us that is beyond name, beyond understanding. This true self sees God as right here among us. It is the person we were made to be. But in order to get there, we must empty ourselves of the things that we have pretended to be.
Sometimes, we pretend that we are only our bodies. We tell ourselves that there is nothing more than our physical presence.
Today, we will meditate on our connections and our over identifiaction with the physical parts of who we are. We will begin with an affirmation of our phyiscality before moving on to agnowledge that we are more than this.
Let’s Begin by placing feet on the floor and hands in our lap. Sit with your feet flat on the floor. notice your breath. Perhaps you notice it in the nose as you breathe in. Maybe you notice it as it passes out your lips. As you fill your lungs from the very bottom, perhaps you notice your breathe as it expands your belly.
Spend a moment of silence now, with your breath.


Good. Let’s continue to validate the importance of our bodies as we notice our physical sensations, now. Listen intensely to the world you are in. Listen beyond the sound of my voice and the buzzing of your speakers. Here all the noises around you.
With your next inhalation, notice the smells in the air. With your next exhalation perhaps you will notice the remnants of a taste on your tongue. Welcome everything you are aware of. It all belongs here.
Notice the pressure of where you are sitting, how your body fits into the place where you are seated. Become aware of the presence of your feet on the floor. And your hands on your lap. Bring your attention, now, to the sensation of the clothes you are wearing, and the temperature of the air on your skin. Is it warm? Can you feel the movement of air on your neck or your face?
Spend another moment, now, with this tactile awareness. In the silence to come, enjoy the feelings on your skin.


As we move toward a conclusion of this affirmation of our physical, we will now do a body scan. Pay attention to feelings of discomfort and tension. As you discover these tight and uncomfortable places, you might wish to imagine that your breathe itself comes into them, to relax them.
Begin with your attention in your toes. You might wish to wiggle them a little. Now, bring your attention to your feet and ankles. Become aware of your shins, and your calves, your knees and your thighs.
Continue to bring your attention upwards, to the joints where your legs meet your pelvis. Bring your awareness around your back, through your groin and up your belly, into the chest. Pay attention to your fingers, now, and your hands. Becvome aware of your wrists, and your forearms. Notice your elbows, and your forearms, your shoulders, and shoulder blades. Continue to draw your attention upwardfs, to the front and the back of the neck, into the jaw, and the back of your head, up your face and to the very top of the scalp.
We will observe another moment now, to be fully in our bodies.


(Silence)


One of the benefits of contemplative practices is the way that they enable us to see both sides of an issue. Our bodies, for example, are important. And yet, they are not the whole of who we are. Let’s affirm that our bodies are one important thing. And yet, they aren’t the only important thing.
The book of Jeremiah says : “ Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart” If our bodies were formed in the womb, then there is something more within us, that came from before this buildfing of our bodies.
You might wish to think this, or even say it outloud:
“Before I was formed in the womb, God knew me.”
“Before I was formed in the womb, God knew me.”
“Before I was formed in the womb, God knew me.”
We’ll take a longer time of silence now, to come to terms with this reality: There is more to you than your body.
In this time of silence, Thoughts and feelings may arise. Let this phrase be your mantra: “Before I was formed in the womb, God knew me.”
Dismiss thoughts and feelings with that sentence: “Before I was formed in the womb, God knew me.”
(Halfway through) Before I was formed in the womb, God knew me.


What is it that God knew before our bodies? We speak of mind, spirit, or soul. We see them as interconnected. Yet we can’t truly define these. They are a mystery. This is why we need empty space within.
In Kenosis, we empty ourselves of many things. One is the incorrect ideas we have held on to.
Spend this last time of silence emptying yourself. Follow God in an act of kenosis, self-emptying. Find a place to accept, with out understanding, that there is within you a body mind and spirit. With each exhalation, empty yourself out of more of that which you don’t need. Feel that space within you grow, with each breath.




Thanks for meditating with us today. We hope, that as you return to your every day life, you can be a little more empty than you were when we began. We hope that you carry that empty space where you meet God within you, into the rest of your life.