Guided meditation. The first method presented here is a guided meditation about moving from fear to hope. It is based on John 20:19-23. Here are the group directions for the guided meditation:

• The leader says, "Listen as I read to this passage several times. Take a deep breath, relax, and let your mind travel to another time and place."
  
• The leader reads the text and meditation, slowly.

Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the authorities, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said "Peace be unto you." And when he had so said, he showed them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus to them again, "Peace be unto you: as my father has sent me, even so send I you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit: whosoever sins you forgive, they are forgiven, and whosoever sins you retain, they are retained." (John 20:19-23)

• The leader then says the following:

"Imagine yourself as one of the disciples in first century Palestine. Imagine a room with a single door, tightly barred. The one whom you have followed for three years, the one you set your hopes on, has been suddenly taken from you, and crucified. It is all over. Experience the feelings of shock, grief, confusion, disorientation, fear. They may be coming after you. Consider the locked door. What might lie beyond it out in the city? Can you name any of the fears against which that door is barred?"

"Suddenly, Jesus is with you. Peace be with you, he says and shows the marks, the proof of who he is. Then were the disciples glad ... Feel the joy, the relief, the release. He says again, Peace be with you. As my father has sent me, so I send you. Receive the Holy Spirit. Feel the power of the Spirit, strengthening, sweeping away the fear, sending you out beyond the locked doors, into the city, into all the world."

"Still sitting quietly, let your mind now come into the present. In your present life, what are the things against which you bar the door? Sense the locked door in your heart and mind which is barred by fear. Who is shut out?"

"Now feel the presence of Jesus come into your heart and mind through that locked door. Feel his presence and the joy, the delight of being with him. Let him speak to you, Peace. He says that the sins we retain are retained, those we let go of are forgiven. Are there sins, offenses, fears, that we need to let go of? Let the Spirit of God move through you if she will, releasing, letting go, encouraging, empowering. Feel the locked door melt away as fear is replaced by love, by the power of God. Sense yourself set free, empowered, sent by the Spirit of God."

"As you are ready, close your meditation with a silent word of thanks, and bring yourself back into the presence of your group. For a few moments, share your feelings and insights in the group. How did it feel to be in the locked room with the disciples? How does it feel to move from fear to being empowered and sent? How does God's presence now help us move from fear to joy as a basis for our action in the world?"

• Using this method, allow groups about fifteen minutes to share their reflections on the passage among themselves.
  
• With the groups still in place, take a few minutes for people to share insights with the total group.