The Longest Journey . . .

is the one that takes us deep within.

It is this inner journey where we encounter God in the most profound way, because at our core is where God resides. This journey involves spending a lot of time in prayer. And to me, the best form of prayer for the inner journey isn't verbal, conversational prayer, but silent, contemplative prayer.

I read an interesting quote by Abraham Joshua Heschel about prayer that in essence says that it is conceit to think that we can actually talk to God.  Prayer is more of an immersion in God, being enveloped and surrounded by God's love and mercy.  

That is the best definition of contemplative prayer.  When I practice contemplation that is exactly what I feel,  I feel as though I am immersed in God's love, totally surrounded by it and gaining strength from it in the silence of my prayer time.

My favorite analogy for God is the ocean.  I am a fish in the ocean and God is the water that surrounds me and sustains me in every way.  In it I move and breath and have my being.  I am so comfortable in my surroundings that I sometimes forget that everything that I have comes from God's love.   As I meditate on this image it helps me to go deeper into myself and uncover my dependence on God and my deep and abiding love for his tender mercies.

Don't be afraid to try contemplative prayer,  just remember that in this case, the longest journey, begins with one image.

Pax

Downloading Patience

So, I am sitting here at my favorite Starbucks, sipping a Zen tea and waiting for a very, very long download to complete to my computer/Garmin.  It occurred to me that watching something download is the New Millennium equivalent of watching paint dry.  It is the most boring, frustrating activity I can think of doing.

Silly me, I forgot to bring a book with me.

It wasn't until I had been watching the numbers go down, then back up, then down, then back up again for about  thirty-five minutes, that I was wasting a great opportunity to practice patience instead of annoyance.  I mean really, here I was drinking Zen tea, and becoming more and more frustrated instead of using all this wonderful free time to let my mind center on God.

I began to take that inner journey,  letting go of everything; my surroundings, the smooth jazz coming from the XM radio station playing in the background, the download status that kept trending up-then-down on my computer screen, even the fact that my hair was still a bit wet from my workout at the gym just before I came here, and sat with my eyes closed and centered myself on that seed, planted deep inside.  (The image I have come to use as my center).  Conscious of my breathing, and then even letting that go I let the moments slip away along with my frustrations, cares, heartaches and prayers.

I allowed myself to completely rest, wanting nothing, seeking nothing, doing nothing.

Patience is surrender.  Surrender is peace. Purity of heart is to will one thing.

Who knew downloading Garmin Maps would be the pathway to peace?

Pax

GO: Two-fer What I'm Writing/Theology Thursday

So just a few days ago I got an email from a woman who runs a website dedicated to spreading the word on Christian meditation and Contemplation. She came across an essay I wrote on Meditation as a Christian Prayer Form for Helium.com and wants to use it on a site that she runs that is dedicated to information on Christian Meditation and Relaxation.

I am a firm believer in the concepts of contemplative prayer. In order to pray one needs to do nothing more than be with God. We spend so much energy trying to form the perfect words to communicate with God who can see into our hearts more clearly than we can ever imagine.

So, I am humbled that my little essay will be used to aide other Christians to come to understand a form of prayer that I have come to love so much. I have looked over her site and really like the content and have actually downloaded some of the meditation music to give to my daughter who is going to begin to use meditation as a method of reducing stress in her life.

If you haven't tried this form of prayer I encourage you to give it a try. If you decide that it doesn't work for you, then you at least will have given it a try. You may find that it will become one of your favorite parts of your day, and a great way to re-energize and get re-centered when your life seems to spin out of control.

Give it a try.

Pax