God doesnt’ waste a hurt….I do believe that absolutely everything that happens in this mortal world is a part of God’s redemptive plan. If we could see from the perspective of eternity, we might find the sorrows of this life a noble participation in the divine cosmic plan. We bear these things for God’s sake, for the sake of that divine image for which our bodies have been made. If we bear our sorrows as God’s sorrows rather than as some personal divine “gotcha”, perhaps the hurt we so dearly feel will be for a much higher purpose. Rather than seeing our selves as worthless sinners, if we see ourselves as divine souls living this particular human experience for God’s sake, than each hurt will be redeemed.

Let me give a practical example of how this is done. It is important to have a space somewhere in your home that is your personal sanctuary in which you pray and meditate. It is helpful to have some sort of altar in this space with things on it that symbolize your experience of God. (For me this is an old family Bible, three candles to represent the Trinity, a carving of the Holy Family from Jerusalem, a cross and a number of pictures.) Such a space helps to create new neurological patterns that bring to your mind and body an accumulation of Spirit-based experiences. Spend at least 15 minutes a day in this space. If this is not possible, begin with five minutes. Begin this time by deeply breathing in God’s presence and exhaling your worries. Do this three times. Then recite the Lord’s Prayer Follow this by just sitting in silence knowing that you are surrounded inside and out with God’s loving presence. As concerns or fears or distractions come to your mind, silently pray “Lord Jesus Christ, Have Mercy.” (aka The Jesus Prayer or the Prayer of the Heart) Again breath in God’s grace and breath out your distractions. As you practice this, over time you will sense a deep peace. Through out your day, when faced with your own limitations, just repeat this process. Instead of struggling on your own to change yourself, use this technique to remind yourself that it is God who changes and redeems us from the inside out.

I memorized this verse when I was about 12 years old and it has been a guiding principle in my life all these years. At times, this verse has been a corrective to destructive eating behaviors. At other times it has been a motivation to exercise and to dress well. At all times it has been the “how-to” of remembering that my body is a temple of the holy spirit.

I Corinthians 6:19 “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. “

A little over six years ago, my body became racked with pain and anxiety. I could not control much of anything – my weight, my ability to walk much less exercise, or to put my thoughts into words. Somedays I couldn’t even hold a book. My heart beat became erratic as a reaction to the pain. Even now, there are days this is my reality. Where once I could simply close my eyes and take a few deep breaths, easing into a state of meditaion and practicing the presence of God, suddenly, I could not.

At that time, I was introduced to chanting. At first, I listened to Gregorian chant but it became too busy with sound for my nervous system. Then I spoke the Jesus Prayer “Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me a sinner” but even that caused my mind to wander to my own errors and to focus on my failures rather than on Christ. About this time, I was introduced to Jerry Thomas who sent me a CD with the Jesus prayer in latin “Om Jesu Christi” and it transformed by ability to be in God’s presence.

Since that time, I have been blessed by several Sanskrit chants, most importantly the Gayatri Mantra. What began as an occassional spiritual practice has become a daily longing and joyous hour or two of meditation. I have begun to experience the presence of the Holy Spirit as actual Presence in my body. I experience this holy energy and purification of self and this old verse comes back to me. And I know that this is what it means to present my body as a living sacrifice and I know, truly know, perhaps even within the very cells of this body, “what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

I haven’t been writing much on this website. The knowledge that I am abiding in doesn’t always have words. The words without the experience could be confusing. Please let me know if what I write is helpful to you in anyway. Or if you have specific spiritual longings or questions for which you would like my prayers and perhaps what wisdom I might be given. My present life is a life of devotion to Christ through prayer and meditation. My understanding of Christ is far beyond what I learned in seminary or what is taught in the churches of institutional Christianity. But my beloved One is the One who was, who is and always will be the light of all creation.

“Prayer has always been a mystery to me. My first memories of prayer (other than Grace said before meals) are my early grade school prayers of confession which I deemed necessary for assurance of salvation. At eight, I was taught such theological truths as eternal security and salvation by grace alone. Although relieved of my burden of laborious confessions, I began to wonder what the point of it all was.
For awhile, it was enough to know that Jesus prayed and therefore so should I. But soon I began to wonder anew, why did he bother? Some mystical soul pointed out to me that the book of Revelations describes the prayers of the saints as incense offered to God, as something which delights and pleases him. That’s a beautiful thought to me but I don’t really understand it.
And then there is Paul’s injunction to pray without ceasing! Perfectionist that I am, this verse became another impossible standard to live up to, until I understood it less legalistically.
I still don’t understand prayer. My feelings remain ambivalent. My 5 year old prays in earnest ‘Jesus, I really need your help tonight. You see, I keep wetting my bed and you know all about it. I need you to wake me up. That’s all. Thanks.’ I have tears in my eyes and fear in my soul as I add my unspoken request: ‘Please don’t answer this one with a no! I can’t explain unanswered prayer to a five year old!’
How often we experience deeply the confusion, anger and pain that so-called unanswered prayer brings. We pray ‘Thy will be done’ and hope it is the same as ours.
I don’t have any answers to all the mysteries of prayer but I do know it is God’s gift to us. I do believe prayer is given to us as a means of ‘Practicing the Presence of God,’ a way of remembering that God is present. It connects us with our eternal God…reminds us of our dependence on God…and tells us God’s joy in our existence…It brings us comfort in our loss much as we comfort our children in their sorrows.”

How ironic that at this point in my life, two decades after I wrote this, my primary vocation is meditation and contemplative prayer. And yes, God did say yes to my five-year-old’s prayer but not until we as a family faced a lot of pain. Prayer changes us but not magically. It can take us to the truth. Prayer can reveal to us that which we do not want to see. As Jesus said, “you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”

Here’s how I understand this verse: Anything that draws us to God is Christ. These words were not spoken as a means of excluding others. They were spoken in the context of clarification to Jesus’ disciples. Here’s the context from the Gospel of John, Chapter 14 in the New King James Version:

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many *mansions; if it were not so, *I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.”
Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”….
Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?”
Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.

The point of this discourse is not “correct belief” but recognition of the Way, the Truth and the Life as it is manifested in our lives through that which draws us to God and our own actions which demonstrate that we, like Christ, live in this reality.

I didn’t want to go. Exhausted after the Thanksgiving celebration (in which I reveled in the presence of my two children), sleeping in sounded good to me. No could do. I was the guest preacher for the day while our pastor was away on a cruise with his wife.

I’m still exhausted but I’m glad I was there. The hour set aside to gather and sing and pray and just be in God’s presence was certainly worth the drive! Our church is far from perfect. I didn’t even like the hymns we sang (and I had picked them out!). We messed up the call to worship reading. Babies were crying and people were coughing. But it was church and it was a joy to me. Why church?

It’s the people for me. The people are beautiful in all their variety and neuroses. I feel like I belong with them because I can be myself, with all my neuroses and imperfections. Although there may not even be one person there who might understand what it means to practice a mystical christiainity, I’m welcome and appreciated. These are people with whom I can laugh and cry, remember and dream. With all the problems that come with any group of human beings trying to be organized together, with all the times there are misunderstandings and immature acting out, these are still people with whom I belong. I’m thankful for that. It’s worth the trip. It’s worth the effort. It’s worthy of my respect.

Because we’re the ones with the power and we don’t have to care. In Europe, the immigration of people from the asias is much greater per capita than it is here. They have to care – they belong to the whole global communitiy and they know it. The European and British send aid readily with little fanfare. We, on the other hand, have much fanfare when we give anything and far less actual aid given. In the case of Pakistan, it seems we aren’t even given much opportunity to care.

In recent years our leaders have been glaringly calling us a Christian Nation. I shake my head in wonder at what other nations are learning about what it means to be a Christian from our example. And wonder why I feel most at home with those who would call themselves agnostic.

I believe that any tragedy brings with it carification of what is really important. This is true on in individual level as well as on a global level. It is clear, once again, that power and wealth is what is important to us as a nation. People without either are disposable. And this for a people who claim the name of one who died poor and abandoned on a hillside outside of Jerusalem. The same hillside, perhaps, on which he sat a few weeks earlier and wept because his people could not turn from wealth and power to see the kingdom of God within each willing heart.

“doing one thing at a time with your whole being” Lawence LeShan How to Meditate

I mentioned in my last post that this is very difficult for those of us in Western cultures to do because of our neurological “wiring” so to speak. There is, however, technology based on sound that I have found helpful. To learn more about this see Centerpointe Research.

“How does Christian Meditation differ from Transcendental Meditation? I ask because I consider opening my mind and soul without being specific about what spirit I seek to be dangerous.”

B.P.

I do not know much about Transendental Meditation. However, I do understand your concern. Let me respond on several levels.

To begin with, I do not think the western mind is able to empty itself, both from my own spiritual practice and from what I have learned from others. Our culture effects our neurological system and we simply don’t have the outer structures that allow our minds to become totally silent and empty.

As way of background, the heritage of Christian meditation has been handed down from the Desert Fathers and Mothers; and has been taught through the monastic traditions of the Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Anglican churches. Other forms of Christian meditation have come to us through the Quaker traditions. All involve a focus on the sacred teachings of scripture in one form or another.

Perhaps I can best explain this as silence being held in the chalice of God’s grace. Our minds have the quality of water – our mind takes on the form of whatever we focus on. In other words, what we think, we become.

The “chalice” is the structure we chose for our mind in meditation. The simplest structure is to chant a name of God. Here are some examples:

. Abba Father
. Lord Jesus Christ
. Om Jesu Christi (using Latin or another sacred language to trick your mind to focus on the sacred rather than on re-stimulated memories of what you think God is)
. El Shaddia, Adonia
. Agnus Dei (Lamb of God)

After a time of chanting or listening to a chant or sacred song, then the mind is ready for to bear the silence. It is in this silence that we can notice the presence of God.

Consider this story of Elijah from the Hebrew Scriptures (I Kings 19:11-12 NRSV)

(The Word of the Lord) said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.

In the past month, I’ve really begun to feel the weight of the responsibilities in my life…..I just want God to make my life better – not super or even great – just plain steady and peaceful – of course I want it right now too.

J.H.

This is from a dear friend of mine, a generous, beautiful man who will gladly give you everything he has if you need it and expect nothing in return. So my friend, let’s see if The Practical Mystic can be of any help to you….in five minutes or less, preferably.

First, as silly as this sounds, I want you to pay attention to your breathing.
. Breathe in through your nose as deeply as you can to the count of four.
. Hold your breath for the count of seven.
. Release through your mouth to the count of eight.

(See www.DrWeil.com for more in-depth information)

In with the good air..out with the bad. As you breathe in, imagine that this is God.s spirit entering your every cell. As you breathe out, imagine God taking your worries and fears from you. Do this a cycle of four times. Then if you can, just be in silence. As worries and to-do lists come to you, simply think .Lord Have Mercy. and let them pass. Practice this for five minutes, morning and evening, daily. Set a timer for five minutes so you don’t have to worry about when five minutes is up. After two weeks, up the time to 10 minutes.

Secondly, our breathing is a metaphor for life. There must be a balance between the in stroke and the out stroke. If you are a person who is seen as the caretaker of others and this is how you see yourself, it is like only exhaling. Eventually, you run out of oxygen and everyone suffers.

Thirdly, remember that we worship a triune God . Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier. We are created in this Triune God.s image. Not just you, but every one of the people you worry about . children, family, friends. All have this divine image imprinted within them, whether they recognize it or not, calling them to life: breathe in the love of God, breathe out the fear of life.

Finally, after a time of silence, ask God to take your fear and replace it with clarity. When we are afraid, we tend to try to .fix outcomes. by controlling everyone and everything in our lives. This only leads to disappointment. Do your best in what is truly yours to do and leave the consequences to God. This is the practice of faith.

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours Mark 11:24

Often taken out of context, this has led many to ask me: “Is my belief just not good enough? Why doesn’t God give me what I ask for?”

Here.s what I have learned: Prayer is not anything like wish-full thinking. Prayer is neither easy nor reflexive. Prayer, the sort of prayer that God hears and longs for, changes us. It is a discipline we grow into and grow from and we need a life time to learn it.

Here’s the larger context for the above verse

:.If you remain in me and my words remain in you…ask whatever you wish… Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins. ” Mark 11:23- 35

Prayer is a powerful and empowering experience. It is not something to take lightly, like breaking a wishbone or wearing an angel pin or crystals. Prayer changes us because prayer is willing God.s will. Even objective studies on prayer have shown its power of healing, lowering blood pressure and pulse rate. releasing endorphins, improving our immune system . it is a whole person exercise: body, mind and spirit.

There are two basic types of prayers: First, the prayer of a child to his/her creator. Secondly, the prayer in which we draw near to God, purposing to enter into an awareness of God’s presence, allowing our mind and emotions to be at one with God’s purposes. We begin with the first and grow into the second through practice. This then changes us from the inside out so that the choices we make are for a higher good and we begin to understand that even the horrors of life are only a small part of an eternal reality and abiding love.

Paranormal activity is NOT evidence of spiritual maturity or even of being a “spiritual” person. We are all, according to the divine image, spiritual beings living in these mortal bodies. This is not to say that paranormal activity isn’t real but it isn’t necessarily of Christ, the Divine Light. Beware of such things.

If you take your spiritual practice seriously, you will need to have a mentor to keep you from going off track. Our egos want to be special, different, and more spiritual than someone else. The path of the Christian mystic is nothing if not humbling. For more on how to find a spiritual director, see Spiritual Directors International

How have you proceeded to develop your relationship with God and enhance your sense of His presence – is meditation the central method or other means?

This has been a very, very long journey. Having been grounded by a chronic illness (fibromyalgia) I have had a great deal of time and inclination to go deeply into spiritual practice. In addtion, I allowed myself to ask questions of faith and to not be afraid of the answers, nor to be afraid of there not being any answers. I can point to books and spiritual practices (see Resources) However, each person needs to “carry their own cross,” i.e. live one’s own indivitual life with all your own foibles and frustrations.

Basically it is a matter of leaning into one’s life just as it is, stripped of illusions as best one can. Secondly and simultaneously, repeat the Jesus Prayer “Lord, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner”

This description of the Jesus Prayer