"Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth." (Psalm 46:10, NRSV)

What a gift in our hectic days to be able to take time to just “be still” and to allow God to speak to us. It is what Pope Gregory was talking about in the 6th Century when he spoke of the need to allow ourselves to just rest in God. There are always things that will compete for our time: shuttling children to activities, going to doctor appointments, shopping, jobs, and the list goes on. It is not likely that we will be given the time for resting in God. Instead we will need to make the time. Thank God we have been given ways to use that time to reconnect with God once we have carved the minutes out of our schedule. One of those ways is “Centering Prayer.”

Thomas Keating, a founder of Contemplative Outreach, Ltd., and a leader in Centering Prayer, wrote:
In the Christian tradition Contemplative Prayer is considered to be the pure gift of God It is the opening of mind and heart – our whole being – to God, the Ultimate Mystery, beyond thoughts, words, and emotions.
Centering Prayer is a way to facilitate Contemplative Prayer. “It is at the same time a relationship with God,” Keating writes, “and a discipline to foster that relationship.”

As Contemplative Outreach, Ltd., assures us in a descriptive brochure:
• Centering Prayer is not a technique but a way of developing a closer relationship with God.
• It is not a charismatic gift but a path of transformation.
• It is not limited to the felt presence of God but is rather a deepening of faith in God’s abiding presence.
• It is not reflective or spontaneous prayer, but simply resting in God beyond thoughts, words, and emotions.

In our busy, dangerous, and often anxious world, it is important for Christians
• to actively foster ways to connect and reconnect with God
• to develop relationships with our God of love that can sustain us and motivate us in our daily living and
• to find a loving center from which to find life’s motivation, a place only found in a loving God’s touch.
Consider Centering Prayer as a way to lead to that loving center, that place of rest in God, that time when we can truly “be still and know” God.

For more information and to further explore Centering Prayer:
• Come to Westminster’s Centering Prayer Group, led by Nana Wilson, which meets every Tuesday from 6:30-8:30 p.m. in Room 231.
• Check out the website of Contemplative Outreach, Ltd.: http://www.contemplativeoutreach.org/