While I was on vacation this past August, God asked me to be flexible with my silent sits.
We left for our trip on a Saturday. My first sit as it always is each morning was the first thing I did before I began my day.
We had a ten-hour drive in front of us. My second sit was in the passenger seat of our car. I put in my ear plugs. Set the timer on the Contemplative Outreach App to twenty minutes and began my sit. My kids did not even seem to notice.
It was Monday morning. I was in the hotel room with my wife and two children. I often wake up early. It was four a.m. There were no chairs in the hotel room. I put in my ear phones. Continued to lie in the bed. Set the timer on the Contemplative Outreach App to twenty minutes and began my sit. I read a little bit and went back to sleep.
Let me share one more example. It was a Tuesday. It was an early afternoon. I was on a train to New York City. I have a work meeting in the city early the next morning. I put in my ear phones. Set the timer on the Contemplative Outreach App to twenty minutes, close my eyes and began my second sit.
A few weeks later, I was on the Contemplative Light Podcast. Clint and I discussed my afternoon sit on the train to New York City. Clint wondered what I will do if during my sit I am asked a question by a passenger such as, “what time is it?”
This has never happened, but if it did, I will open my eyes, tell him or her the time, and ever so gently return to my sacred internal icon and open to the presence and action of God within.
I encourage you to be flexible with your silent sits. They can be anywhere: cars, trains, planes, hotel rooms.
God loves you and will join you wherever you sit.
Go Further:
Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening was the first book I read as I began my Centering Prayer practice. I have read it numerous times. Here is my review of it.
The Heart of Centering Prayer: Nondual Christianity in Theory and Practice by Cynthia Bourgeault
The Path of Centering Prayer by David Frenette
Intimacy with God: An Introduction to Centering Prayer by Thomas Keating
Open Mind, Open Heart 20th Anniversary Edition by Thomas Keating
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