Why Do I Sit In Silence?

I want to connect with God at the deepest level possible.

I want to understand who this God is.

I want this God to teach me how to live.

I want my life to be an outpouring of this God.

If I want to get to know God, I will need to spend time with God.

If I want to get to know God at the deepest level, I will need to quiet myself and let God speak to me.

The best way I can do this is to quietly sit in God’s presence with my entire being.

During centering prayer I open to God’s presence.

I remove barriers to God’s presence.

I give God the best opportunity to act within me.

I get out of the way and let God act deep, deep within me.

Because I love God, I trust God.

I know God is filling me with what I need for the rest of the day.

I arise from my silent prayer ready to take action.

Silent prayer teaches me how to live.

I am not complete without my silent prayer practice.

It makes me whole.

The God I meet in silent prayer continues to be a presence throughout the day.

Silent prayer teaches me when to be silent and when to take action.

Click here to learn more about centering prayer.

The Naked Now

“The Naked Now” by Richard Rohr is a gold mine. I had just begun practicing silent prayer when I first read it two years ago. I recently decided to take a second run through this marvelous book. To be honest, this is the type of book that you need to read over and over again. You will see things that were hidden the previous time.

“I knew early on that there were different kinds of knowings. Words divided reality between either and or, but my living experience was always both-and.” This book will reveal how you can change the way you see from either and or to both-and.

One way to learn to see both-and is the practice of contemplation. “Contemplation is an exercise in keeping your heart and mind spaces open long enough for turning to see other hidden material.” Just as Jesus did, we need to enter the prayer of quiet (contemplative prayer).

Another way to learn to see both-and is by following the advice of the great teachers. “The great teachers are saying that you cannot start seeing or understanding anything if you start with “No.”

I will make one final point regarding how you can learn to see both-and. “Love and suffering are the main portals this open up the mind space and the heart space…..” These are our greatest teachers. Looking back at my life I completely agree!

Now that I have made my second run through this book, I will let what I read soak in. I am certain this will not be the last time I pick up this wonderful book.

Read this book slowly and with a highlighter in hand. Go back and re read the highlighted parts. You will learn how to see the naked now.

To Listen Is To Love

To listen is to turn towards another, to leave self behind; and that is to love.
– Laurence Freeman

How does one leave self behind?

When you leave self behind, it is then that you truly listen to another and share the gift of love.

Let me share some brief thoughts on how to better listen.

Turn off your cell phone!

Do not think about what you will say.

Lean in.

Utilize direct eye contact.

Ask questions.

Only render your thoughts if you are asked to do so.

Acknowledge what you have heard.

Do not inwardly plan your day.

Invite them to share again.

It is not about you.

It is about them.

You will soon get your turn.

Thirst For Silence

Do you have the thirst for silence? I believe there is a great thirst for silence. I have been teaching centering prayer at churches in the Philadelphia, Pa area. People come. They want to learn more. They pray vocally to God. Is there another way to pray? How does it work? Why should I do it? How can it help me?

Why do people thirst for silence? To be honest, silence seems impossible to achieve. There are always noises around us. In our homes we hear the sounds of the air conditioner or heat. The dishwasher, the laundry machine and the dryer are running. Clocks are ticking. The tv or radio is playing. Other people we live with are busy doing things, talking and texting on their cell phone. Many people say they need a white noise always going on in the background. Many people can’t fall asleep without the tv on.

I think this thirst for silence is not a thirst for the absence of sound. It is a thirst for inner stillness. It is a thirst to stop the never ending inner voices. What do these voices keep saying? “I am not loved. I am not confident. I am not good enough. I could have done a better job. I am not happy. I am bored. I am afraid to try new things. Don’t pick me, I can’t do this. I am jealous”.

We desperately want to stop these endless voices. We wish we could hear a different voice. This Voice says, “I love you. You can be confident. You are good enough. You are doing a great job. I am all you need to be happy. You no longer need to feel bored. I have new plans that I want you to be part of”.

What is this Voice? It is the Voice of God. God will speak to us in the silence. We don’t need to fear the silence. God waits for us in the silence. Silence teaches us who we are. Silence has much to teach us. We need to trust the silence.

A silent prayer practice such as centering prayer is one path that can help us hear this Voice. Christian meditation and prayer labyrinths are also paths that help us hear God’s Voice. To be honest, there are many contemplative paths that will help us hear God’s Voice. Each person will find the one or more paths that work best for him or her. My path is centering prayer sprinkled with lectio divina and photography.

Perfect Love Casts Out Fear

God is Love. (1 John 4:8) God is within me. When I forget this, I live in fear. I am afraid to take on new tasks. I am afraid to experience unfamiliar things. I lack confidence. I make the wrong choices. I make no choice. I freeze. I stop moving forward. I procrastinate. I complain. I blame others. I am unhappy.

As soon as I remember that God is within me, I no longer have any reason to be afraid. I am free. I am free to explore. I am free to experience life. I am free to love. I am free to be loved.

James Finley once said,”Anxiety comes from our estrangement from the consciousness of God’s love inside of us.” We really have no reason to fear. Once we remember who we are and Who is within us, we have no reason to fear. Our God loves us. Our God does not want us to live in fear.

Fear And Love

Fear is a barrier to our True Self. Brian Zahnd states, “I observe there really are only two forces that move people: Fear and Love.”

Fear stops me from talking to someone who I view as different from me. Love asks what new things can I learn from someone today.

Fear says I do not like change. Love explores, always seeking new things to experience today.

Fear is afraid to act when an injustice is incurred. Love runs to aid when another human being is harmed.

Fear forgets that God is present. Love knows God is never absent.

Fear is always dividing. Love is constantly uniting.

Fear paralyzes growth. Love is endlessly transforming.

Fear hoards. Love shares.

Fear is temporary. Love is eternal.

We live and move and have our being in God.

And this God is Love.

Love connects us to our True Self.

The Christ Is Coming To Be

I was reading an article in the America Magazine by Ilia Delio. In this article Ilia states, “This universe is holy because it is grounded in the Word of God. It is Christ, the living one, who is coming to be.” [1]

I had to read this a few times to let it sink in. I repeated, “It is Christ, the living one, who is coming to be”. What does this mean?

Then it dawned on me. The Christ is always coming to be! The Christ is always creating! The Christ is always in action! The Christ is always evolving. The Christ is a constant outpouring of Love. It must be. Look around.

You can see the Christ in action. It is a new born baby. It is a baby calf. It is a flower pushing through the top soil. It is the sun rising as a new day bursts forth. It is people banding together to help each other when a member of the community is in need. It is when you are the recipient of a random act of kindness. It is children lighting up the room with their laughter and play.

The Christ is always coming to be. That is what it does. The Christ seems to act on Its own. The Christ seems to act through people. Love and Creation must keep moving. Love and Creation must unfold.

Our job is twofold. God wants us to enjoy and take pleasure in this Love and Creation. God also wants us to participate. We are to open ourselves and let the Christ act through us. We become the hands and feet of this Love and Creation. We become the voice of this Love and Creation.

The Christ is always coming to be!

[1] Ilia Delio, Confessions of a Modern Nun, America The National Catholic Review, October 12, 2009

Will You Sit With Me?

 
Silence is not empty. It is filled with God.  

I cannot imagine a better start to each day than a silent sit.  

During centering prayer, I am responding to God’s question to me, “Will you sit with me?”  

I sit in silence so together God and I can plan each day. I sit in silence to be loved by God. I sit in silence to be healed by God. I sit in silence to let the Creator be free to create through me. 

I sit in silence to let go and trust God. I sit in silence because I love God. It is no different than sitting in silence with a friend or family member.  

I sit in silence because it teaches me how to live. I sit in silence to enter a journey. It is a journey that together God and I will take.  

As James Finley says, “When engaged in contemplation, we rest in God resting in us. We are at home in God at home in us.” Words do not need to be said.  

Contemplative prayer is floating in the ocean of God. You can’t sink because God will hold you.  

I would not ever think about starting each day without a centering prayer sit. 

We Sit With God

  

We sit with God because we love God. We do not sit with God for what we will obtain. We do not sit with God and expect a gift in return.  

“Lift your heart up to the Lord with a gentle stirring of love, desiring him for his own sake and not for his gifts.”

This is what the Cloud of Unknowing teaches us. We enter centering prayer with no expectations.  

We enter centering prayer to receive the gift of contemplative prayer. Contemplative prayer is prayer in which we experience God’s pure presence within.  

We are naked before God. It is just God and us. Our whole being, body, mind and soul is in the presence of God. There is nothing between God and us.  

Contemplative prayer is a prayer of love without any ulterior motives. We pray because we love God.

Hell Is A Paradox

Hell is a paradox. Kallistos Ware mentions, “Hell is a point not in space but in the soul. It is the place where God is not. (And yet God is everywhere!)”

Why do I mention this? I agree that hell is in the soul. I also believe that hell is our perceived absence from God. I am in hell when I believe God is absent. I am in hell when I forget that God is ever present. I am in hell when I forget that God loves me. When I reject God’s love, I place myself in hell. When I fear, I place myself in hell.

I place myself in hell when I let my anger linger. I place myself in hell when I let my hurt feelings continue. I place myself in hell when I refuse to forgive people. I place myself in hell when I am jealous as a result of someone else’s success and my perceived lack of success. I place myself in hell when things don’t go the way I want them to go.

Luckily, I can pull myself out of hell. I can realize how foolish I am acting. I can apologize to God. I can apologize to the other person. I can remind myself that God is ever present. I can remind myself that God loves me. Sometimes it naturally happens during the silence of my centering prayer practice. Other times, I spend a week in suffering when I needlessly did not have to do so. It all seems so foolish when I look back.

It is a paradox. Hell is not the absence of God. God is in hell with us. It is us who forget this.

What do you think?