Anonymous:
“I can’t imagine getting through the Covid pandemic without the practice of Centering Prayer and the opportunities to come together with others engaging in contemplative practices. While I treasure being able to gather on Zoom with my weekly group, I found gathering with any CP group an experience of being in the Body of Christ, being among others regularly opening their hearts and minds to what the Holy Spirit had to impart. No matter what circumstances any of us were experiencing in our daily lives,we were together for the hour or so to recount what God was doing in our lives--the ways we were being lifted up, strengthened, exhorted, guided, and lovingly held. We were reminded that we have a spiritual as well as physical nature and it is in that spiritual consciousness that we are filled with the love, grace, mercy, compassion, and hope of the Holy and the Divine. Through our sharing in the power of the prayer we were experiencing the Presence of Christ and all that that signifies. We were being filled, both in the practice and in the coming together, with the assurance of God’s love and generosity toward us.
I have to be reminded, each and every day, of the power and goodness awaiting me in the Oneness with God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit and the Oneness with all creation. I have to be reminded, in Him, and through Him, to be a source of life and light in times of threat, whether it be a pandemic or a time of political unrest. I am being equipped to be an advocate of forgiveness and reconciliation because I am assured that He dwells within each of us. He is at work in the world and in every other human with whom I share this life. I have to be reminded moment by moment.
Our country is crying out for Spiritual healing.”
* * * * *
Mary Williams: Some thoughts on the
Zoom experience (St Thomas More prayer group):
“It
felt awkward initially – that sense of everyone staring at you on the screen --
and it was a learning curve for everyone, navigating the technology. We are
still learning. A couple of people have opted to wait until we can meet in
person again because they do not like Zoomed gatherings, but we are in touch
through email. One older woman who cannot hear well wishes she could join us,
but her iPad is on the blink. The other five people in the group are grateful
to be able to meet through Zoom. It has actually made it easier for one woman
who would otherwise have to drive a long distance.
The group does miss meeting in person, though, and we look forward to the day when that can happen again.”
* * * * * *
John Wavrik (St. Peter’s Prayer Group):
“Something that has become clear is that Zoom is
well suited for meeting of a Centering.Prayer group. The Zoom setting is more intimate
than face-to-face meeting. You can see people more clearly when they are close
up (as in Zoom) than when they are seated across a room from you. You don’t
have to travel to get to a meeting.
Formation activities
benefit from ‘screen sharing’. You can watch videos which fill up the computer
monitor in front of you – rather than looking at a small TV on the other side
of a room.
Participants
can share readings that all can see and follow. In a small enough group one can
discuss just as effectively as when meeting together in the same room. In fact,
one does feel that everyone is in the same room – your own living room! Centering
Prayer is an individual discipline. Group meetings serve to support the
members’ practice – they are not a substitute for it. It is helpful to
periodically get together with others practicing the prayer – but it serves
primarily as a support and social supplement to a regular private practice. In
formation, particularly book study, a group provides incentive for reading.
Reading on your own and then sharing your reactions is a very helpful
supplement to private reading. It allows you to benefit from the reaction of
others to the things you are reading. Again, a joint book study is a supplement
to reading a book on your own, not a substitute.
* * * * * *
Diane Langworthy and members of the Centering Prayer group at her church:
“Members of the Mary Magdalene Apostle Catholic Community Centering Prayer Group have undoubtedly experienced that the Spirit flows in and among us, though now, also by Zoom! Since the shelter in place order, our group has gained an additional four members, some of whom are new to the prayer, and others who have returned to us, as physical limitations had made getting to the group out of their reach. How we look forward to sharing the silence together (through zoom) and companioning each other. I have noted that we have a deeper “tenderness” for each person, as the experience of the pandemic has taught us to treasure the presence of each other. Through our zoom gatherings , we raise each other up, out of isolation, and into the gift of life in this present moment. Several group members frequently share their poetry , art, and reflections among us. With gratitude and awe, What follows are some of the contemplative ponderings of our group:”
* * *
~With a Thankful
Heart,
Linda Hill-Phoenix
* * *
I
continued to listen while I watched the snake, and when my turn to read came
around, I passed and explained why. (It created a little bit of a disruption… )
After a stare-down of what seemed like an hour but must have been just a few
minutes, the snake started to flick its tongue. It was trying to figure out
what to make of me! Eventually, the snake decided taking a different path would
be the best course of action and it made its way into a bush on the far side of
my yard. Ahhh, no rattles. Thank goodness!
I was just glad I had rotated my chair, otherwise it would have been behind me and I would have totally missed it! It is just a reminder wild things are never far away, even though we don’t see them very often.”
Poems that were inspired within the
context of recent CP’s…… by Paul Russo
Mirror Reflection
Learning to be an observer
No judgement or analysis
Seeing Love in the Other
And knowing love within
Eternal vibrations
Resonate between
Creator and created
Everything belongs
Reality unfolds
In the mutual
Gaze.
* * *
Gratitude In Transit
I am impelled
To give thanks
for the energies
Of life,
That I so nonchalantly
Give voice to—
Graces
That seem to reverberate
Through every cell
Of this body.
Vibrations
oscillating
In rhythmic fashion,
At times,
Like dancing butterflies
Pirouetting above
A carpet of flowers.
Energies of love,
That I sense,
Flow
Throughout an ever
Expanding universe,
To create,
Invigorate
And
Transform.
Bouquets—
Centerpieces
At tables of
Gathering friendships.
________________________________________________________________________________
“God is alive!!!
I watch him in zoom in my daily share. More and more I grow in confidence with intimacy that we could create a United Church that glorifies His presence among us.
I discovered God's
words, images, poems, songs, art beauty via website.
A variety of daily
prayer, multicultural masses, adorations, conferences, retreats, all kind of
expressions , People with faces full of joys, conversion, communions, United
Communities supports, friends, growth daily to extend love, help, company using
technology to minimize the effect of unexpected COVID 19's quarantine.
Centering prayer has
become the center of my life, a clear way to become UNO with God including all
of with the same Faith. As Richard Rohr teaches: Christ is more than a
religion. Christ is Universal and present in all of Human life.
From the silence and the stillness, we connect with the Universal Heart that awakens the ego and human conscience to recreate the Life beyond the Earth.... Amen.”
~Maria Lanz (English is a second
language for her)
* * *
"AUGUST 2020"
each dawn I am remolded,
similar yet different,
as if I were the sky.
--Poem and photo by Carl Emerich
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