WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE
OF SILENCE
+ Silence is God's first language; everything else is a poor translation. In order to hear the language, we must learn to be still and to rest in God.
-- Thomas Keating in Invitation to Love+ We have a lot to learn about the power of silence in our society. Noise is everywhere. There is hardly any escape from it. Silence, of course, is not a magic bullet for any particular physical or mental healing, but it sure does help. It is definitely an essential practice leading to all kinds of spiritual healing.
You can bring your silence with you into this noisy world. You can pay attention to the world in new ways as you practice being silent. Practice it in as many situations as possible. Try to tune out as many distractions as possible including your own noise. Be quiet. Be aware. Don’t speak. Listen. Pay attention. Let inner silence and outer silence have significant time and space in your life. Something wonderful is happening. Something fascinating is happening. Something amazing is happening. In this joyful silence, you are becoming you and you are helping others become their true selves. Silence speaks volumes.
+ Centering Prayer and Lectio Divina as taught by Father Thomas Keating is an excellent method for entering the glorious silence which leads to our awe and awakening to the very real presence of God. Many people have been discovering this new world since Father Keating’s books began to gain popularity toward the end of the twentieth century. From the Father Keating's Contemplative Outreach website here is a very brief introduction to Centering Prayer:
“Centering Prayer is a receptive method of silent prayer
that prepares us to receive the gift of contemplative prayer, prayer in which
we experience God’s presence within us, closer than breathing, closer than
thinking, closer than consciousness itself. This method of prayer is both a
relationship with God and a discipline to foster that relationship.
“Centering Prayer is not meant to replace other kinds of
prayer. Rather, it adds depth of meaning to all prayer and facilitates the
movement from more active modes of prayer – verbal, mental or affective prayer –
into a receptive prayer of resting in God. Centering Prayer emphasizes prayer
as a personal relationship with God and as a movement beyond conversation with
Christ to communion with Christ.”
+ SpiritualityandPractice offers many
resources on the
Spiritual Practice of Silence and a wonderful photo
and quotes gallery. The meme above comes from that gallery.
+ You can always find a link to any of the
Spiritual Explorations posts by going to http://abundancetrek.com/sepostsaccess.html
No comments:
Post a Comment