Thursday, October 30, 2008

Something about Centering Prayer


Have you tried Centering Prayer yet? It is a meditative process in which you silently repeat a sacred word and, whenever you're distracted, gently come back to that word. Here's something quite wonderful about this prayer method:

A nun, after her first try at centering prayer during a workshop led by Thomas Keating, came up to him in great frustration. "I’m such a failure at this prayer," she said. "In twenty minutes of sitting I've had ten thousand thoughts."

"How lovely," Fr. Keating responded, without so much as batting an eye. "Ten thousand opportunities to return to God!"

-- Cynthia Bourgeault

You might like to read Cynthia Bourgeault's article entitled Silence is God's First Language. It's actually an excerpt from her book entitled Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening.

3 comments:

  1. i checked out that book - it looks terrific - sigh....i guess i'll have to purchase yet another book - poor me :)

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  2. Yes, I really do know that feeling, Roberta! :-)

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  3. I hope people will go on to read the book--it's one of the best books around, esp. about true self found through contemplation. Thanks for this, Ellie,

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