tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91937017779659634302012-02-16T10:24:31.920-05:00Natalienoreply@blogger.comBlogger221100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9193701777965963430.post-53033861713104382052009-06-29T09:13:00.005-04:002009-06-29T12:31:09.228-04:00

Please note my use of mixed pronouns is intentional. This shakes me up and serves to remind me that I am valuable as a woman.-----The god I call God is just and worthy of imitation: I would willingly, with all that I am, bow down before such a god.She is heartbreakingly beautiful and as tangible to me as my own breath. She resonates, and I resonate with her. This resonance is how I define its

Natalienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9193701777965963430.post-59591421203014961582009-06-09T16:19:00.005-04:002009-06-10T11:56:34.922-04:00

This comes from a friend. I found it beautiful and wanted to share it. (Thanks Cathy!)---I grant that I am unjustly sentimental about mundane things like oatmeal and hand-knit socks. There's a reason that the word "touched" -- pronounced "teched" -- is synonymous with "soft in the head" and I am it. I just don't make the distinction that a lot of Church People (I manifestly am distinguishing

Natalienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9193701777965963430.post-65288761950134796092009-06-08T09:38:00.001-04:002009-06-08T09:38:51.786-04:00

by Mary OliverYou do not have to be good.You do not have to walk on your kneesfor a hundred miles through the desert repenting.You only have to let the soft animal of your bodylove what it loves.Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.Meanwhile the world goes on.Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rainare moving across the landscapes,over the prairies and the deep trees,

Natalienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9193701777965963430.post-65949335431157014372008-06-17T12:45:00.003-04:002009-06-08T09:32:02.477-04:00

I've started this blog as an attempt to share the blessing of Centering Prayer. I hope to share my experiences, challenges, and insights associated with this ancient form of prayer.May the God of peace be with you! May you feel Love's arms around you this day!

Natalienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9193701777965963430.post-52935082776120462412008-06-16T12:50:00.002-04:002009-06-09T14:12:18.136-04:00

Some years ago I had a little spitfire Irish nun as a spiritual advisor. She had the most amazing presence: very centered and grounded, drawing a person into The God of Stillness.Over the course of our relationship, she introduced me to Centering Prayer. She spoke of Ruah, or God's divine breath. She taught me to spend daily time just sitting in God's presence, not asking for anything or praying

Natalienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9193701777965963430.post-50516275663744227942008-06-15T14:26:00.003-04:002009-06-10T18:16:25.642-04:00

No!TM asks people to empty their minds, to empty themselves.CENTERING PRAYER asks people to quiet their minds so as to be filled with their awareness of God. Centering Prayer is a lovely way to choose to turn more completely toward God, to increase intimacy with him. It is a way to more fully acknowledge--and allow him to strengthen our awareness of--our already-existing and subordinate

Natalienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9193701777965963430.post-16730059241901445782008-06-14T15:14:00.003-04:002009-06-26T11:18:49.563-04:00

Centering Prayer is all about sitting with God, as his child. It's all about a childlike trust in his presence. It's not about verbal conversation with God at all. It's not even about feeling his presence. It's about choice. It's about thoughtfully and purposefully putting yourself in him. Eventually God will begin to "speak" to you in a powerful, wordless, connected way; learning to quiet your

Natalienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9193701777965963430.post-51081417629143641872008-06-14T09:02:00.004-04:002009-06-10T18:29:29.274-04:00

(These instructions were proposed by Basil Pennington, and I adapted them from a Wikipedia entry. It's not exactly how I was taught, but these instructions offer a decidedly Christian method of practicing this type of prayer. Non-Christians may adapt by replacing any Christian terms with simply 'God'.)1. Sit comfortably with your eyes closed, relax, and quiet yourself. Ask God to be with you and

Natalienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9193701777965963430.post-54981462568557153752008-06-13T10:43:00.000-04:002008-06-17T19:07:49.473-04:00

It's hard sometimes to get in a significant prayer time, what with three short people in the house, LOL. Plus, I've been disciplining myself to exercise each morning. I haven't yet figured out how to balance exercise with morning prayer time, both of which seem to be needed in the a.m.This morning I squeezed in 5 minutes of total quiet time with the Lord. I just sat in the teeny master bathroom

Natalienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9193701777965963430.post-41975026043853447512008-06-12T09:35:00.002-04:002009-06-10T18:31:52.954-04:00

Those of you who live where it snows, you know how everything gets muffled outside after a big snow? How it's unbelievably quiet? If we listen carefully, we can "hear" God in that stillness. Does he talk in words in that quiet place? Well, I can say for sure that he doesn't talk in words to me in that quiet place. The stillness is itself a conversation, a place where we can "Be still and know

Natalienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9193701777965963430.post-68838616385643965992008-06-11T09:37:00.001-04:002009-06-10T18:34:50.775-04:00

In our busy lives, do we even know what stillness feels like? Do we find it downright difficult to be truly still, with our minds doing overtime keeping up with it all?We exercise our minds by reading, building things, stimulating discussions, and the like. We exercise our bodies through physical exertion and practicing self-control. We exercise love by acting in love when we don't feel very

Natalienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9193701777965963430.post-6649260893776903662008-06-10T08:21:00.003-04:002009-06-10T18:38:44.787-04:00

Can you think of a positive time when you felt completely vulnerable? Do you remember how it felt? Was it kind of like being naked, but in a good way?We pile on personality layers for various reasons, becoming someone we weren't supposed to become. Over time we think of our layered self as being the real deal.Granted, some of these layers are cultural, including norms of expected behavior in

Natalienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9193701777965963430.post-17086902213432007782008-06-09T21:30:00.007-04:002009-07-19T21:17:57.646-04:00

As humans, are we not called to be God's hands on earth? (And even if we don't believe in any gods, doesn't natural law call us to be Love to one another?) As the monk/singer John Michael Talbot writes, "Christ has no body here but yours." What does that mean exactly?Are we supposed to work up enough faith in order to bring God down to earth? Are we supposed to Name It and Claim It to see the

Natalienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9193701777965963430.post-63423231393811024902008-06-08T09:44:00.002-04:002009-06-10T18:42:46.276-04:00

Do we have to do large, heroic things for God? Who defines what is "large"? Humanity?Jesus taught that only those who could become like children would enter His kingdom. I don't think he meant "simple mindedness" or "intellectual simplicity". I think he referred to the humility of children.It doesn't occur to young children to make things complicated. They just act, trusting that the details will

Natalienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9193701777965963430.post-66945115120568942672008-06-07T07:18:00.002-04:002009-06-10T18:47:47.440-04:00

Think of a time when you were very aware of your mind, perhaps working hard to memorize something, do a math problem, or follow directions. Do you remember how mentally focused you were? Is that a relatively familiar state?Think of a time when you were very aware of your body. Maybe you were learning a new dance routine or sport, trying to carry a heavy tray while waiting on tables, or keeping

Natalienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9193701777965963430.post-42397023750870086102008-06-06T11:25:00.002-04:002009-06-10T18:49:43.924-04:00

Ever notice how elevators—especially older ones—don't stop precisely? They have to "find" the exact stopping place, and it's not a perfectly smooth process. While this is happening, the elevator bounces above and below the final stopping place for a few moments while shock absorbers slow it down. In science this is known as "damping".Do you ever feel like you're on an elevator with old, shot

Natalienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9193701777965963430.post-27212468166949923572008-06-05T09:20:00.002-04:002009-06-28T17:21:41.645-04:00

Do you remember hearing about the some of the survivors of the Indian Ocean tsunami? You know, the ones who tied themselves to a tree to keep from being swept away? I remember wondering how they had the presence of mind to do such a thing in the midst of such terror. It would have been so easy to just give into the terror and try to run or give up.One such survivor was Dorothy Wilkinson. She had

Natalienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9193701777965963430.post-25207107234221154012008-06-04T08:13:00.001-04:002009-06-10T19:03:22.240-04:00

Do you like change? I love change. The right kind of change. I hate the other kind.My greatest sadness in life is this: everything is always changing. Don't get me wrong: I like new foods, a new (flattering!) pair of pants, new ideas, a new movie, a new paint in the kitchen. But other kinds of change just suck the life right out of me.I feel weaker when relationships change. I feel weaker when I

Natalienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9193701777965963430.post-91442290659781805092008-06-03T09:12:00.002-04:002009-06-10T19:07:11.632-04:00

In my last essay I wrote: I will rest my heart throughout the day and let him engulf me in his nearness. If you're anything like me--a homeschooling mom with too much to do--you're probably thinking, "But how am I supposed to remember to rest in him? Hindsight is 20/20."So how do we remember to rest in The God of Stillness in the midst of daily chaos? Maybe you are the picture of serenity and

Natalienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9193701777965963430.post-84208436628759234812008-06-02T21:26:00.001-04:002009-06-09T14:00:28.032-04:00

God has no body here but ours. He needs us, just as we need him. Love becomes material when we act in Love. It's a great, symbiotic relationship.Now more than ever, I feel called to be the Face of Love to others. All the words in the world don't really matter; in the end the only thing that matters is connection and love.Our world is so disjointed, so disconnected. Our kids are addicted to video

Natalienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9193701777965963430.post-52467133221037877662008-06-01T07:29:00.004-04:002009-06-30T15:34:18.703-04:00

During my centering prayer time lately, I haven't been focusing on any special word. Instead I keep finding myself visualizing that I'm mug. I've been here before, but this round has been going on for about two weeks now.Initially it went as usual, "God! Fill me up so I can overflow to my family and friends today!" And during any prayer time / study I managed to fit in, I'd find myself thinking

Natalienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9193701777965963430.post-86014642181792462682008-05-31T08:17:00.002-04:002009-06-09T14:10:44.525-04:00

God is many things to us, but the one aspect of him that I often called to share is that of Comforter. The deepest yearning of my heart is to help others around me to learn Rest, to take comfort in the fact he is always there, as close as our own breath. I've been at the bottom of a pit many times before, not really understanding fully how I got into it, and definitely not having a real plan re:

Natalienoreply@blogger.com