Last Sunday
during the Mission Center Sunday Service a guided centering prayer was offered.
We were asked to close our eyes, and direct our attention to our breath,
silently saying the word open as we breathed in and heart as we breathed
out. My busy little brain wanted to
sing a favorite hymn that begins with “Open My Heart Lord”. I am still growing in this process of spiritual
practice.
For the last
few years, I have been participating in the Spiritual Growth and Companioning
program. A great deal of time in this
program has been devoted to the study and practice of spiritual practices. At the first retreat for this class I was
asked to select a spiritual practice that I would like to use daily. I love God’s creation and have over the years
found peace in gardening and fishing. So
I chose Holy Attention and devoted my time in spiritual practice each morning
looking deeply at a toothpick holder that my husband a woodworker had made from
a burl.
Or I would sit
quietly on the patio bench watching finches, hummingbirds, and quail stop by
for a snack. I found it easy to be still in this attention to God’s
creation. Well sometimes I found it
easy, other times my busy brain would like to take off like a gerbil on a wheel
with all kinds of conversations that were not happening, or concerns about
issues out of my control. In time I
learned to gently quiet my busy mind and return to the silence.
Concentrating
on the breath is an often suggested means of bringing the mind back to the meditation. My problem is when I am concentrating on my
breath I struggle to breathe normally. I
was grateful recently to read that this was not uncommon in learning spiritual practices. One would think this would all be much
simpler, but then there was a time when I did not know how to tie my shoes. It is all part of learning and growing spiritually.
At the next
retreat I was instructed by my leader to pick a new spiritual practice. I liked the practice of Holy Attention and
complained to my Spiritual Director that as I was learning so much from the
practice of Holy Attention that I saw no reason to change to another practice. A wise man, he suggested I try including the
prayer of examen in my evening prayers for others, and continue the practice of
Holy Attention as I wished. I said I would try it for a month. The prayer of examen changed my life and I cannot
image ever ending my day without this spiritual practice. (See November 2019 Blog article)
Yesterday I
received a book, Lectio Divina (required reading for the class) transforming words
and images into heart centered prayer (by Christine Painter). I will share an abbreviated portion of the of
the initial steps of this spiritual practice suggested in this book. After reading a short text or scripture, settle into your prayer space (maybe
spending some quiet time with your breath.)
Listen for a word or phrase in the reading that calls to you. Repeat the word or phrase in silence.
Quietly listen
for what images feelings or memories are stirring and welcome into your heart whatever
comes. Listen for how the stirring in
your heart connects to your everyday life. In time prayer may arise spontaneously,
when you allow your heart to be touched by this entering of God into your
experience. (Sometimes for me the prayer
is a deep feeling of peace.) Other times
answers about the questions of my day will come to me later as I go about my
daily activities.
So, returning
to the centering prayer last Sunday.
Amazing, I found that silently saying the word open as I breathed in and
heart as I breathed out resulted in my breathing remaining fairly normal. I
love it when at last I just get it. We
were asked to continue this breathing for one minute, and after a bell at the
end of the minute, we were asked to open our eyes and rest in the silence for a
minute and a half. A minute and a half
can seem like a very long time sometimes, and other times 20 minutes fly by. I
use an egg timer or my phone to track time.
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