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. 

The Image of God

  
Stillness teaches us to be present and see the image of God in all human beings.  

We are all so quick to get angry when another has an opinion different than ours. We are impatient when standing in a line at the store and the person in front of us has a question and is just taking too long. We are frustrated when we are driving and the car in front of us is driving five to ten miles per hour below the speed limit.  

What are we to do? 

I try to remind myself that we are all made in the image of God. God is in each one of us. Together we are the body of Christ. When I do this I begin to realize that there is no longer a need to judge, label and categorize. I can let things just be. I can enjoy the beauty that each person reflects. 

If we were all the same, it would be a rather boring world. God has created diversity so Spirit can express Itself. We each have our own unique body and appearance. We each have our own personality. We each have our own interests. We each have our own skill sets.  

We need to celebrate God’s diversity. We need to share our individual gifts. We need to collaborate with each other. Together we can accomplish much with our diversity.  

Let’s begin today to see the image of God in each human being we come across. Just Imagine how much better the world would be if we all did so! 

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.

What is God?

What is God?  

In no particular order, here are some of my thoughts just now. It is where I am at right now. I am sure my list will look different tomorrow.

God is like Jesus.

God is Mystery. 

God is the Holy Spirit

God is our Father.

God is our Mother. 

God is Spirit. 

There is no where that God is not. 

God is ever creating. 

God is ever expanding. 

God is a constant outpouring of love. 

We are the eyes, ears, hands and legs of God. 

God is both within and outside of all that is. 

God is the trinity 

God is existence.

God is the ground of all being. 

God is love. 

God is within each one of us. 

God is in me and I am in God. 

We all live and move and have our being in God. 

God reveals itself in all things. 

We do not exist apart from God. 

We live in God and God lives in us. 

God loves us. 

Each day we are touched by God’s love. 

We exist in God. 

We cannot know God. 

We best know God when we try not to know God. 

God is as small as an atom. 

God is as large as Jupiter. 

If you quiet yourself, God will speak to you. 

What do you think?