A study of the practice of meditation/contemplation or wordless prayer through the presentation of Richard Rohr’s book titled “The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See”. Rohr’s definition of a mystic is ‘one who has moved from just having a belief system to the actual inner experience of God’. Come and be challenged in the month of February to take your faith to another level.
Rohr will be seen on a DVD presenting his book. A study guide and discussion time will follow. Jim Wallis, president o f Sojourners Magazine and bestselling author says, “Rohr invites us to slow down and find God, or to be found by God, in all the places we never thought to look”.
On Meditation
“It might seem strange at first to give ourselves over to this simple practice of unthinking wakefulness. But from a contemplative point of view, what is really strange is that the ungraspable immediacy of the present moment has become the land we know not.” --James Finley, Christian Meditation.
Meditation is an ancient practice known to all religions and peoples from earliest times. Many scholars believe that Jesus engaged in long periods of meditation when he retreated in prayer alone. As Christianity evolved church practices favored teachings such as evangelism and community to build and expand the church in a pagan world. Meditation as a practice did survive, however, although its practice became relegated mainly to monasteries and convents becoming a side or esoteric practice beside the dominant teachings of the church. It was in this context that Martin Luther advocated wordless prayer and according to the Lutheran scholar, Johann Steinmetz, “in his lifetime he wanted to make contemplation something that was not reserved for the elite”.
However, despite pockets of recognition, meditation has not been a dominate prayer experience for many modern church members. Recently, however, there has been a revival of interest in Christian meditation after the practice was discredited in the sixties and seventies as being a ‘hippie’ or Eastern practice. Perhaps the acceptance of meditation by the health community as a beneficial therapy or the frantic pace of our culture has allowed for a new look at meditation as a legitimate addition to Christian prayer. For those that have studied and tried it they report a peace and refreshment of the spirit not experienced before. As a beginning wayfarer myself on the journey to learn and practice meditation I have been intrigued, lead and opened up to new ways of experiencing God that I could not have anticipated.
The very practice requires that you open your mind and empty yourself of words to take up a stance of nothingness and waiting. When meditating I pray for nothing and ask for nothing. Surprising thoughts often occur to me later. As an example, sometimes I find myself moved to take an action or lend a kindness and I think ‘where did that come from? I never cared about that subject or never worried about that person’. Then I realize that it came into my consciousness in that time of openness when I was not explaining to God what I needed what I wanted or was concerned about. The more I meditate the more changes I sense in my life some of which I would not have chosen. How we love our comfortable old ways!
The month of February, when nature itself in blanketed in an environment of silence, it seems a good time to reflect on silent prayer and bring in some other voices to help illuminate the subject of meditation. During the adult Sunday school hour in February we will be showing a DVD by writer Richard Rohr titled “The Naked Now” based on his book of the same name. Come join us for a study of this challenging practice of praying without words, waiting without expectation and experiencing grace in the ordinary.
