Centering Prayer – Our Discipline for May, 2013

Welcome to the month of May! Spring has sprung and we are hear because we are ripe and open to growth during this season of growth and new life!

In May we dedicate ourselves to a new discipline, the practice of Centering Prayer. This particular discipline places a stong emphasis on interior silence. The participant's sole occupation is to establish and maintain the will or intention to "consent to God's presence and action during the time of prayer." (Father Thomas Keating)

In Centering Prayer, we seek to center our hearts, minds, and spirits on God, on the creator. We seek his presence. This practice is all about our relationship with God. Metaphorically, we crawl into the Divine lap and do our best to stay there, centered in Presence with a capital P.

One of our chief modern day guides for this practice is Father Thomas Keating. To learn more about this practice, check out Keating's Youtube instructional piece at
           http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IKpFHfNdnE. 

Keating's first guideline makes reference to a "sacred word," a single word or brief phrase to anchor or center us in God. Possible sacred words might include Father, Mother, Creator, Spirit, Love, Jesus, Abba, Yahweh, Peace, or Breath of Life.

We hope you will join us and practice Centering Prayer with us on any of the Tuesdays in May. We meet at Yoga Roots at 444 E. Mitchell in Petoskey from 7:30-8:30 pm. Have a great May!

Toby Jones, founder of Living Vision