No. It’s not. Nothing to buy here. Slowly unclench your “click away finger.” Breathe deeply.
You are among friends, and not the ones you will find at a used car lot. (Don’t they always seem to act like that?)
:)
I’ve asked some friends to join me in this, but now I pose the invitation to all of you… out “there”… on the interwebs…
Here’s what it’s all about:
I’d like to join with you, and as many of you (pl) as possible, over the next week, to do the prayer exercise from the previous post. The challenge is to encounter this prayer form/exercise/format (what-have-you) I created just 3, or more times, in one week’s time. I hope you really enjoy it. I also hope you can help me, by leaving us your feedback here, (with your comments, thoughts, and insights- both positive, and/or negative).
Just 7 bitty days. Pray 3 times in 7 days. As you give it a try, you can expect it to be about 7 min long. Perhaps, this will increase the more you experience it.
You could probably do that in your sleep, right? But, then, obviously, it would be harder to remember what happened that way, huh? I should have said, “You could do that standing on your head.” I thought about it, and then thought better, because that actually sounded too challenging and so-very ascetic. So, I didn’t want to go there. Whew. I think I really dodged a bullet. hmm.
The next 7 days could be the breakthrough you’ve been hoping for. Let’s find out.
So, won’t you please join me?Read it here. Bring a friend along, too.
Thank you so much!
I look forward to reading your insights and comments.
The half-way house between thinking and contemplating.
(Worship) Meditation is Recollection (a re-gathering):
No more and no less than the subjection of the attention to the control of the will. –Evelyn Underhill
Read her book “Practical Mysticism: A Little Book for Normal People” –free here:
Book Cover: "Practical Mysticism: A Little Book for Normal People," 1914
From Meditation one may move to a stage of Contemplation.
The two contemplative purifications at work:
The purification of sense, and the purification of will.
For millennia, fire has symbolized the Spirit of God.
If your prayer time has lost some of its richness, please enjoy this prayer exercise:
Meditation Prayer Exercise (7-20 min)
(Please note: It may take several, or many times of disciplined meditation, (as a spiritual practice), to move into a more contemplative prayer experience or mindset. I challenge you to have the courage to keep at it.)
1. Read through this exercise the whole way. (You will likely need to refer back to it during your meditation time, as well.)
2. Light a candle to represent the Spirit of God.
2. Slowly Read and Reflect on a portion of Scripture, or the following poem:
All our knowledge, sense, and sight, Lie in deepest darkness shrouded. Til Thy Spirit brake our night, With the beams of truth unclouded.
Beginning this time of prayer and worship:
First, surrender to the influence of the Object of your meditation, [in this case, through the vehicle/aid of the poem words, visual aid (candle), plus symbolism (flame = Spirit)]. Surrender to The Divine exhibition of unexpected meaning, beauty, and power. Pray on these things.
Focal Point:
Not if, but when, your thoughts wander, or your attention wanes, bring your internal, (and external) gaze back to the flame of the candle before you. The chatter of your mind will be ceaseless at first. Refocus. Recall what the flame symbolizes, and the goodness of God, (Trinity-Creator, Savior, Spirit). Center, again, your awareness on the Object of your worship (God), in thanksgiving and grace.
As you continue to meditate: See your self distinctly from the Other, and, in time, transition to observing your connectedness; Move from a “multiplicity to a unity”.
Once you have been vested in the experience of meditation for a time:
You may notice how your efforts of trying to focus and worship God, may adjust to a resting or receiving from God, in silence of the mind, and spirit. In this case, there is no effort on your part, but a loving dispensing, from God, into your heart and mind.
Enter and enjoy this time as though receiving an inpouring of God’s love, healing, and grace.
This contemplative stage of prayer cannot be forced, and for some, it is a difficult experience to come by. If you never approach this stage during your exercise, the discipline of prayer and meditation, done routinely, can aid in the apprehension of this mysterious reversal called contemplation. This is the stage where praying/thinking, moves to determined focus, which may transform into surrendered contemplation–which is a nourishing and awing spiritual communion with God.
Thank you for reading.
Please share your thoughts.
(If you tried this exercise, now or in the future, please mention that here, as well.)
Each separate life of worship, whatever its outward expression, in so far as it is truly cleansed of egoism and bent upon God, is part of this one eternal Eucharistic action of the Logos incarnate in the world: and this fact strips the Christian life of prayer of all petty subjectivism, all tendency to mere religious self-culture, and confers upon it the dignity of the Real.
Now, Nathan must use every finger digit to show his age.
It was ten years ago today after 14 hours of labor, on an unseasonably 70º day that Nathan came into this world, as our healthy first born child.
A decade of joy, pain, struggle, triumph, and rewards followed that day. Lots of interventions and therapy of various kinds for his autism. Nathan continues to show us he is one amazing person. He is a special child, and a precious gift from God.
Prayer of Thanksgiving
God,
Your faithfulness is everlasting. You love endures.
You bind our wounds and cure the hurts of our hearts.
You make each day sweeter, and give us all we need.
Your abundance overwhelms me and dives into my soul.
