1. You never show up.
2. You don’t show up every day.
3. You quit too soon.
4. You expect immediate results and stop.
5. You don’t give it at least one month.
In 2016 I attended a weekend retreat led by Fr. William Meninger, one of the founders of Centering Prayer. I jotted down his many words of wisdom
Here is one simple but powerful quote:
“God is going to love you and that is it.”
This made me think about my centering prayer practice. God loves me. God is delighted when I sit with Him.
If I miss a sit, I don’t need to beat myself up. God’s love for me never stops. God looks forward to our next silent sit.
I hope you feel the same way too!
“God is going to love you and that is it!”
You cannot fail at Centering Prayer. You simply need to show up.
Centering Prayer is not a sprint. It is a long marathon with you and God.
Centering Prayer practiced on a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly basis will transform you.
If you are faithful to your practice, your practice will be faithful to you.
As Thomas Keating says, “If you do it, it will do you!”
What are some of the ways Centering Prayer has transformed you?
I would love to hear from you. Feel free to email me.
Go Further:
Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening by Cynthia Bourgeault
The Path of Centering Prayer by David Frenette
Open Mind, Open Heart by Thomas Keating
Be Still and Listen: Experience the Presence of God in Your Life by Amos Smith
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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.
A Simple Immediacy: Desert Wisdom for Advent by Cynthia Bourgeault: The Desert Fathers and Mothers of the fourth and fifth centuries are arguably the first Wisdom School in Christian history. At first in trickles and then in waves, they fled into the deserts of Egypt and Syria to escape the increasing imperialization of the Christian Church and to live in a simple immediacy with the Risen Christ. In the process, they generated an extraordinary body of practical teachings on the spiritual practices underlying this life of deeper awareness and mystical union.
Wisdom for Living: The Parables of Jesus by Thomas Keating, Contemplative Outreach: When rightly understood, the parables help us to see how extraordinary a wisdom teacher Jesus really was, and how revolutionary, in the best sense of the word, was the content of what he taught and to which he bore witness by his life and death.
Soulful Aging by Thomas Moore: As everyone knows, we are growing older all the time. But growing older is not the same as aging. Many people seem to grow older without going through the challenging life processes that make you a real person of substance and character. That kind of aging requires saying yes to the opportunities and difficult issues that life presents.