What Are Your Portals to the Divine?

Everything we see in our world can be a practice or portal for contemplative prayer.

– Nicholas Amato


I read the above quote in Living in God: Contemplative Prayer and Contemplative Action by Nicholas Amato.

Let me share some of my everyday portals:

 

  • Centering prayer is my daily portal to contemplative prayer: rest in God.
  • I particularly enjoy to drink a fresh pot of french pressed coffee with my wife.
  • When my sixteen year old daughter edits my upcoming blog posts
  • A leisurely stroll through the neighborhood with my wife, daughter, son and sandy (golden doodle)
  • Time alone to read a good book
  • A gaze into the flickering flames of our gas fireplace
  • To explore a small town on foot
  • A silent afternoon walk on a quiet path in the woods
  • A clear night sky lit up with millions and billions of stars
  • When I watch my children play
  • To quietly sit at a family gathering and watch and listen
  • The sounds and smells of the waves on a morning or evening walk on the Ocean City, NJ boardwalk
  • A holiday movie with my wonderful wife
  • When I take turns to read with my nine year old son
  • To savor an evening meal at a restaurant with my twenty year old son

 

What is your daily portal to the Divine?

Go Further:

Living in God: Contemplative Prayer and Contemplative Action by Nicholas Amato.  Enjoy my review of this wonderful book.

Moving from Stress to Joy by Nicholas Amato

Eyes of the Heart:  Photography as a Christian Contemplative Practice by Christine Valters Paintner. (Enjoy my review.)

The Soul of a Pilgrim: Eight Practices for the Journey Within by Christine Valters Paintner

Spirituality in Photography: Taking pictures with deeper vision by Philip Richter (Enjoy my review.)

Healing the Divide: Recovering Christianity’s Mystic Roots by Amos Smith 

Be Still and Listen: Experience the Presence of God in Your Life  by Amos Smith


this post may contain affiliate links

Sounds True has titles by teachers and authors such as Thomas Keating, Cynthia Bourgeault, James Finley, Richard Rohr, David Frenette, Parker Palmer , Eckhart  Tolle , Michael Singer , Jon Kabat-Zinn , Marianne Williamson to name a few.

Contemplative Light offers courses on contemplative practices (Christian Meditation, Centering Prayer, The Examen, Lectio Divina, The Jesus Prayer), the Christian mystics (ancient and current) and spiritual writing. Peruse their wonderful offerings.

Silence and the Spiritual Journey by Contemplative Outreach: The purpose of our historical lifetime is to provide us with space for the upward journey of evolution into vertical time and our assimilation of the eternal values that Christ brought into the world. This journey consists of everything from great touches of God (consolations) to the Dark Nights.

Lectio Divina Heart to Heart – Listening and Living with God by Contemplative Outreach: The ancient practice of praying the Scriptures is being rediscovered and renewed in our time. Known as Lectio Divina (Divine Reading), it is one of the great treasures of the Christian tradition of prayer.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *