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The great spiritual traditions suggest that the relationship with God is cultivated like other relationships: as we turn our attention toward God we open the possibility of a fuller relationship. Entering into this relationship does not so much require a change in our behavior as a shift of attention.
It is part of our formation in a listening spirituality to find which practices, at this time in our lives, are most supportive of our inward listening for the word, the guidance, the challenge, the reproof, the love – or simply intimations – of God’s presence. These can take many outward forms. It is a matter of some listening and discernment to find those which are right for us at any given moment.
I’ve never, and still don’t really, find myself easily called to sitting in silent centering prayer. I haven’t given up on that! What I have learned […] however, was that there are many ways to be contemplative. That it’s more about the Holy Listening and less about what I may or may not be doing with my body in the moment. Chanting, body prayer, yoga, lectio divina, painting, poetry writing, and more became creative endeavors where I found myself being present to the moment, present to the Holy.
So, be still and quiet, and silent before the Lord, not putting up any request to the Father, nor cherishing any desire in thee; and the Lord give thee the clear discerning of all that springs and arises in thy heart.
A true mystic believes that all men have, as he himself is conscious of having, an inward life, into which, as into a secret chamber, he can retreat at will. In this inner chamber he finds a refuge from the ever-changing aspects of outward existence; from the multitude of cares and pleasures and agitations which belong to the life of the senses and the affections.
Prayer is a tough word for a lot of Friends; if you need to do so, translate it into a more comfortable word as you read along. Many contemporary Friends want no part of a practice in which one dials up God to make demands. Some Friends don’t believe in a personal God who is there to hear and respond. Others think that making demands is a poor way to enter into relationship with a personal God.
Something becomes a spiritual practice once it is done with a sense of deliberate intention, with a purposeful determination. It also requires discipline. A spiritual practice requires regular practice! Spiritual disciplines root you in the present moment, and open you to mystical experience.
Be still and cool in thy own mind and spirit, from thy own thoughts. Then thou wilt feel the principle of God, to turn thy mind to the Lord God, whereby thou wilt receive God’s strength and power from whence life comes, whereby thou wilt receive Gods strength to allay all blustering, storms, and tempests.
“There is a way of ordering our mental life on more than one level at once. On one level we may be thinking, discussing, seeing, calculating, meeting all the demands of external affairs. But deep within, behind the scenes, at a profounder level, we may also be in prayer and adoration, song and worship, and a gentle receptiveness to divine breathings.”
“A shovel is a prayer / To the farmer’s foot / When he steps down / And the soft earth gives way. A baby is a prayer / When it’s finally asleep / A whispered Amen / At the end of the day.”
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