Even now by faith we lose our footing and fall into a new, unending center in which we are upheld by God and not by the narrow base of our ego’s self-assertion.
– James Finley [1]
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Silent prayer teaches me how to lose my footing. Silent prayer teaches me how to let go of my ego’s self-assertion. During silent prayer I ever so gently let go. I allow myself to lose my footing. When I allow myself to lose my footing, I fall into my center. I fall into an unending center. Though I fall, at the same time I am upheld by
God.
Silent prayer is a paradox. We free fall into an infinite God and are upheld by God at the same time. The deeper I fall, I still manage to be upheld by God. I can’t hit bottom. God has no bottom. I plunge into the depths of God, yet I continue to be upheld by God.
The only reason I fall yet continue to be upheld is because I have faith. What do I have faith in? I have faith that there is something much, much bigger than me. I do not have to live separate from it. I can live in it. I can participate in it. I can rest in it. I can plunge into it. I can free fall into it. I am safe inside of it. I am unconditionally loved by it.
What is this it? I call it God. I can call it Spirit. I can call it Love. Or I can call it Life. Words really cannot define it. It is a great mystery.
Silent prayer is a safe place to practice life in God so I can continue to live in God during my non silent times.
Go Further:
James Finley, Merton’s Palace Of Nowhere
James Finley, Christian Meditation: Experiencing the Presence of God
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[1]. James Finley, Merton’s Palace Of Nowhere, (Ave Maria Press 1978)
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