Silence and Stillness Part 4

 

Another quote on silence to ponder prayerfully today.  “The music is not in the notes, but in the silence between.” Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Or you can think about the sacred pause between words.  Or taking a deep breath before between your response/reply to another person’s comment. 

Once again, we will practice silence and stillness with the Sacred.

Find your phone or a timer and set it to 5 minutes.

~ Breathe in a deep breath and slowly exhale.  Try to have your exhale be longer than your inhale.  This means if you inhale to the count of five, exhale to the count of seven or eight. 

~ Choose a sacred word (love, peace, shalom, sun, Son, Creator) as the symbol of your intention to be open to God’s presence and action within and around.

~ Sitting comfortably and with eyes closed, settle briefly and silently introduce the sacred word as the symbol of your openness to God’s presence and action within and around.

~ When thoughts start to compose to do lists or feeling agitation at why you are doing this or tension sits on your shoulders, return ever-so-gently to the sacred word.

~ At the end of the prayer period, remain in silence with eyes closed with three or four more deep breaths.

As you reflect on the experience and encounter with the Eternal, how could this moment leave a lingering impression and imprint on your life today?  Sometimes at the top of a meeting agenda I will write, “WAIT”.  Anne Lamott says this stands for, “Why Am I Talking?!!?”  I like this reminder to let silence have a space at all meeting tables.  This reminds me to let others in the group talk rather than thinking I must be the authority on all things or have an opinion on everything!  May each of us find moments of holy waiting this day and in that stillness hear God’s original language of silence. 

Stillness and Silence part 3

 

This week, as May wraps up and June is ushered in, we are engaging in stillness and silence.  Read aloud the quote below several times.  You can say the following words in your normal speaking tone and then try to softly whisper these words, barely letting loose an audible sound.

 

In quiet and silence the faithful soul makes progress, the hidden meanings of the Scriptures become clear, and the eyes weep with devotion every night. Even as one learns to grow still, one draws closer to the Creator and farther from the hurly-burly of the World. Thomas à Kempis

What does that quote provoke and evoke for you?

Find your phone or a timer and set it to 5 minutes.

~ Breathe in a deep breath and slowly exhale.  Try to have your exhale be longer than your inhale.  This means if you inhale to the count of five, exhale to the count of seven or eight. 

~ Choose a sacred word (love, peace, shalom, sun, Son, Creator) as the symbol of your intention to be open to God’s presence and action within and around.

~ Sitting comfortably and with eyes closed, settle briefly and silently introduce the sacred word as the symbol of your openness to God’s presence and action within and around.

~ When thoughts start to compose to do lists or feeling agitation at why you are doing this or tension sits on your shoulders, return ever-so-gently to the sacred word.

~ At the end of the prayer period, remain in silence with eyes closed with three or four more deep breaths.

What was the experience of silence like today?  I invite you specially to name and notice where you sense some discomfort or dis-ease within you.  Maybe your mind keeps spinning and stirring (what is sometimes called the “Monkey Mind”, that keeps jumping from limb to limb trying to capture your attention to get you think about what someone said or did or that you need milk at the store).  Maybe your shoulders tighten.  Or maybe you gut feels uneasy or queasy.  Or maybe you feel physically fine, but emotionally something is whirling.  It is okay to say that three days into this prayer practice you have not reached perfection or levitation.  Remember, that in baseball hitting .333 is considered Hall of Fame worthy.  That means you strike out 6 or 7 out of 10 times ~ puts a new spin on our expectations.  Remember, there is NO one right way, no right experience, no expectations other than to be in God’s presence ~ awake and aware of the Holy hovering in your life.

Prayer that you are finding new expressions of the eternal in this experiment this week.  Amen.

Stillness and Silence part 2

 

This week we are entering the holy silence of God’s first language.  We are engaging our souls in slowing down and being in the unconditional (non-performance and production mode).  I love the following quote:

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing
and rightdoing

there is a field.

I'll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass
the world is too full to talk about.”  ― Rumi

Re-read that quote.  This is what silence offers us ~ a space with the sacred beyond the “shoulds” and to do lists and proving our worth and earning our keep.  Let’s engage the native language of our souls.

Find your phone or a timer and set it to 5 minutes.

~ Breathe in a deep breath and slowly exhale.  Try to have your exhale be longer than your inhale.  This means if you inhale to the count of five, exhale to the count of seven or eight. 

~ Choose a sacred word (love, peace, shalom, sun, Son, Creator) as the symbol of your intention to be open to God’s presence and action within and around.

~ Sitting comfortably and with eyes closed, settle briefly and silently introduce the sacred word as the symbol of your openness to God’s presence and action within and around.

~ When thoughts start to compose to do lists or feeling agitation at why you are doing this or tension sits on your shoulders, return ever-so-gently to the sacred word.

~ At the end of the prayer period, remain in silence with eyes closed with three or four more deep breaths.

Now, take a few moments to write down what you experienced.  Maybe today you felt the same as yesterday or maybe something new stirred within you.  Maybe you are not sure what you are “supposed” to have happened, which is a good question.  But you may not like the response, which is, there is no “supposed to” here.  What happens is what happens, even if all you experience is five minutes of quiet.  Or it was really four minutes, because the neighbor’s dog started barking and a car door slammed and your phone dinged with a notification.  I mean didn’t that person know you were trying to find nirvana??  There is NO right way, no right experience, no expectations other than to be in God’s presence ~ awake and aware of the Holy hovering in your life.

May these five minutes remind you that God is with you every minute this day.  Amen. 

Stillness and Silence

 

What comes into your mind when you hear the word, “Silence”? 

Silence can mean quiet, calm, and slowing down.

Silence can mean loneliness and an unsettling stillness or even restlessness.

When have you experienced quiet in a holy way?

When has silence been uncomfortable, because sometimes silence can be hurtful or unwelcome.

Or maybe you have heard that the same letters are used to spell “silent” and “listen”.

Or maybe you have heard the quote, “God’s first language is silence.  Everything else is a translation.” which is attributed to Thomas Keating who is a leader in contemplative prayer, more on this in a moment.

Or maybe you’ve read Mother Teresa of Calcutta who wrote, “We cannot find God in noise or agitation. Nature: trees, and grass grow in silence. The stars, the moon, the sun move in silence.”

This week, I want us to begin the season of summer with moments of stillness and silence.  Up front I want to say that my intention here is NOT to make you a monk or nun or levitate five inches off the ground.  I am not trying to sell you something or guarantee you that you will have a spiritual enlightened experience that transforms your life.  Sometimes meditation and centering prayer is five minutes of stillness amid the storms of life.  And that is what I am encouraging right now ~ 5 minutes. 

Find your phone or a timer and set it to 5 minutes.

~ Breathe in a deep breath and slowly exhale.  Try to have your exhale be longer than your inhale.  This means if you inhale to the count of five, exhale to the count of seven or eight. 

~ Choose a sacred word (love, peace, shalom, sun, Son, Creator) as the symbol of your intention to be open to God’s presence and action within and around.

~ Sitting comfortably and with eyes closed, settle briefly and silently introduce the sacred word as the symbol of your openness to God’s presence and action within and around.

~ When thoughts start to compose to do lists or feeling agitation at why you are doing this or tension sits on your shoulders, return ever-so-gently to the sacred word.

~ At the end of the prayer period, remain in silence with eyes closed with three or four more deep breaths.

Then, take a few moments to write down what you experienced.  It is perfectly acceptable and understandable and normal to write down, “Nothing”.  Or “I feel a bit calmer.”  Or maybe there was an insight that entered your imagination.  Or maybe you had to return to your sacred word what felt like 100 times in five minutes!  There is NO right way, no right experience, no expectations other than to be in God’s presence ~ awake and aware of the Holy hovering in your life.

May these five minutes remind you that God is with you every minute this day.  Amen. 

Friday Prayer

 

God, You are a circle who enfolds and holds us.  God, You are never fully known, but we have these glimpses of grace that delight us.  Thank you for your evolving and expansive love that we explored on Monday as we considered why we do what we do…and how difficult that question is to answer.  Thank you for Your light that can help us examine the shadow side, trusting in the truth that nothing separates us from you.  Thank you for the surprises when the sacred showed up this week.  Thank you for the unending exploration of faith where we will never cross a finish line or have everything all figured out.  Help us as your people to continue to be open, letting You co-author and edit our lives.  All this we pray in the name of the One who loved to ask questions, Jesus the Christ. Amen.

Breath Prayer

 

Today I invite you to practice a breath prayer using scripture.  The way this works is to select a piece of scripture ~ usually one short sentence.  You could choose, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”  Or “Let everything that has breath, praise the Lord.”  Or “For God so loves the world, God sent God’s son.”

Once you have a verse, get comfortable ~ feet flat on the floor, shoulders relaxed, spin straight, and feeling centered.  When you breathe in, say the first part of the sentence, “The Lord is my shepherd”.  Then hold for the count of four, as you do open your sacred imagination to what those words provoke and evoke for you today.  As you exhale, say the second the part of the scripture, “I shall not want.”  Then ask, what do these words provoke and evoke?  I encourage you to repeat this process five or six times.  See what new ideas or insights dance within you each time you return to your selected sentence.  May this practice help you breathe and bathe in scripture this day.  May you know God’s love, hope, peace, and presence.  Amen.

Why did I do that ~ Part Three

 

Gracious God, thank you for the truth that You form and fashion me into being.  Thank you for the breath, this breath, right now.  Guide me this day.  Help me hold lightly my life for the unfolding mystery it is.  I do not always know for sure…I see in a mirror dimly…and won’t ever fully know…why I do what I do.  May I hold this playfully and prayerfully.  May I rejoice with each millimeter of my shadow side I discover.  May the question why I did that or said that, help me reflect with You, for You continually show up disguised as my life.  In the name of the One who is the light of the world and sets a spark in our souls and fire in our veins, Jesus the Christ.  Amen. 

Today, go back to your list of gifts and shadows from yesterday ~ keep reviewing and reflecting and writing.  The point of naming and noticing the light is never one and done.  Maybe you can add a new gift to the list and the shadow side that light casts.  That isn’t just Tuesday’s homework, it is the life journey we all are on.  I would love to talk with you more in the coming weeks about this exercise and what it is provoking/evoking for you.  I pray your reflections help you celebrate that you are God’s beloved and that God isn’t finished with you and God loves you just as you are.  May those truths mix and mingle together as good news for your life this day and the rest of this week.  Amen.