I’ve come to lament the fact that for more than forty years of my spiritual journey, I thought that prayer was all about words…MY words to God. But as Peter Campbell and Edwin McMahon tell us in their book, Bio-Spirituality, “There can be so much self-deception in a talking-to-God kind of prayer…We can use talking to God as an escape from being in touch with the truth of ourselves.”
The silent, listening form of prayer known as "apophatic prayer" offers a stark alternative to all words-based understandings of prayer, and as such, it challenges us to the very core. For when it comes to our core - our spiritual, soulful core - words will always fail us. Language will always fall short.
In advocating the silent forms of contemplative prayer, McMahon and Campbell note that such forms "help us put our bodies and all that’s inside us where our good intentions are.” For in practices like apophatic prayer, “We must let go of the controlling mind and all its chatter, and let go into what the body knows…For in silence, we have to risk letting the answers come as they will, NOT just make them up ourselves [through our own words and wordiness].
Finally, McMahon and Campbell assure us that “There is wisdom IN our bodies…But this wisdom lies behind an obscuring veil within ourselves…It is even possible that our mind itself is that veil…The letting go required to pass beyond this barrier [of the mind] contradicts all our cultural conditioning," along with all our educational and religious programming as well. "This is because human transformation depends upon far more than information…The critical factor for deep spiritual change is NOT understanding, but an experience, a movement in the body’s awareness…Loosening the reins of control and letting ourselves experience such graced wisdom are the two essential ingredients of bio-spirituality.”
So that is what we are here to do again tonight…Set aside our words and our wordiness…Quiet our minds…Relinquish control…Loosen the reins…and let the genuine wisdom and grace of God speak to us, directly to our hearts…
We will share two periods of silence, each lasting 15 minutes. We’ll have a brief stretch break in between. If you find that you need an anchor to come back to as you fight off that monkey mind, try something physical, such as your breathing in and out, or a single syllable such as "Om," "Lord," or, given where we are in November, just "thanks."
Let us Pray…
Looking Ahead - On Tuesday, November 29, the Living Vision Community will meet at the Manna Food Bank on McBride Park Rd. in McBride Industrial Park off of W. Conway Rd. We will gather at 7:15 and work until 8:30 repacking food and assisting Manna as they address the hunger needs of our three county area. ALL are welcome to join us in the practice of no-strings-attached service to others. For more information email tobyjones48@gmail.com
Shalom, Toby
No comments:
Post a Comment