Means of Grace: A Meditation for Holy Week with Dr. Melanie Dobson
March 30, 2021
A Meditation for Holy Week with Dr. Melanie Dobson - Episode No. 56
In this episode, Dr. Melanie Dobson shares a Lovingkindness meditation for Holy Week. This is a beautiful prayer practice that offers God’s lovingkindness to each of us and gives us space to offer it to each other—both to those whom we love, and those who really bother us. It is called a “metta meditation.” The word “metta” comes from the Buddhist tradition and means “lovingkindness”: it is a way of offering and receiving goodness, grace, and wellness for ourselves and for others. As Christians, we understand that the source of lovingkindness is the three-in-one God whose very being is love (1 John 4:16). We receive this prayer as a gift from another tradition and practice it with the gentleness and respect it offers to us. This version is inspired by Gil Fronsdal’s book The Issue at Hand, which has been freely given for communal use.
Melanie is an ordained elder in the Western North Carolina Conference and an associate professor of Methodist Studies at the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, SC. She is also a registered yoga teacher, teaching yoga at churches, in retreat settings, and for cancer survivors. She enjoys hiking, cycling, cooking, and being outdoors. She is a single mom to one son, Elijah.
Show Notes - Episode No. 56
Anxiety and meditation | The United Methodist Church (umc.org)
GBHEM - The Awakened Life Curriculum
The Practice of Lovingkindness Meditation | Pacific Northwest UMC News Blog (pnwumc.org)
The Issue At Hand: Essays On Buddhist Mindfulness Practice | IndieBound.org