|
TWO SESSIONS OFFERED EACH MONTH
Second Sunday - 6:00 - 6:50 p.m. in Room 213
or
First Friday - 12:00 - 12:50 p.m. in Room 213
No prior experience is necessary and newcomers are welcome to begin at anytime. If you have any questions, contact Associate Pastor Dave Carlson at 232-2424, ext. 115.
CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER
We may think of prayer as thoughts or feelings expressed in words. But this is only one expression. Contemplative Prayer is the opening of mind and heart – our whole being – to God, the Ultimate Mystery, beyond thoughts, words, and emotions. We open our awareness to God whom we know by faith is within us, closer than breathing, closer than thinking, closer than choosing – closer than consciousness itself. Contemplative Prayer is a process of interior purification leading, if we consent, to divine union.
THE METHOD OF CENTERING PRAYER
Centering Prayer is a method designed to facilitate the development of contemplative prayer by preparing our faculties to cooperate with this gift. It is an attempt to present the teaching of an earlier time (e.g., The Cloud of Unknowing) in an updated form and to put a certain order and regularity into it. It is not meant to replace other kinds of prayer; it simply puts other kinds of prayer into a new and fuller perspective. During the time of prayer we consent to God’s presence and action within. At other times our attention moves outward to discover God’s presence everywhere.
THE GUIDELINES
1. Choose a sacred word as the symbol of your intention to consent to God’s presence and action within.
2. Sit comfortably with eyes closed and take a moment to settle before silently introducing the sacred word as the symbol of your consent to God’s presence and action within.
3. When you become aware of thoughts, return ever-so-gently to the sacred word.
4. At the end of the prayer period, remain in silence with eyes closed for a couple of minutes.
|
