Contemplative Prayer

By: The Rev. Brenda Sol

Most of you have probably noticed the monthly announcements about our contemplative prayer group. We’re a small, but dedicated group. We leave each meeting feeling refreshed and renewed by our shared 40 minutes. Because the group members find our practice so beneficial, they suggested I focus an upcoming sermon on contemplative prayer. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do this morning—explore contemplative prayer together.

 We want you to have an experience of this important spiritual practice, not to add just one more thing to your discipleship “To Do” list, but to give you the gift of rejuvenation. Week after week, we sit here in worship, listening to scripture and sermons that remind us that this path of following in Christ’s footsteps is not an easy journey. We all understand that discipleship calls us from places of comfort, stability and security into places of transformation, action and innovation. But Jesus also reminds us, over and over, that to do this work, we must be refueled through prayer and connection with God.

We’re inviting you into a contemplative prayer practice, because, in order to serve the poor, the hungry and the oppressed, we must take time to refocus on God. Which is the primary difference between traditional meditation and contemplative prayer. In traditional meditation, the whole point is to empty oneself, so one can just “be” in silence. Another way you might’ve heard the goal of traditional meditation described is to shut down the monkey mind—to get rid of all the thoughts that are jumping around in your head.

That sounds a lot like what we hear on the surface of this morning’s Gospel, which reads: “Jesus ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts.” But we know the disciples couldn’t have survived without anything, so we can surmise that what Jesus was really saying is, “Don’t let anything take your focus off of the work God has called you to do.”

Likewise, in contemplative prayer, the goal is not to empty one’s self. Rather, instead of chasing our thoughts out of our heads, we simply acknowledge the thought, then refocus on God. The assumption in contemplative prayer is that God is already here—within us…around us—waiting for us to become more aware of God’s presence. That’s how simple the practice is. As we sit in silence for a few minutes, or several minutes, we continually bring our attention back to God.

What our group has discovered is that the more we lean into the simplicity of acknowledging our thoughts and the re-focusing on God, the less pressure we feel to “do it right”. But it is a practice, so practicing helps our minds and bodies trust the process. Let’s try it out right now.

I'm going to coach you into a relaxed state, and then give you a two-minute experience of contemplative prayer.

–      At the end of the two minutes, I’ll say, “Amen.”

–      Then, I’ll explain another option.

–      During the next few minutes of silence, simply let your breath be your focusing point.

–      Imagine that gently breathing in and out is bringing your awareness onto God.

–      Go ahead and get comfortable in your seat.

–      It’s probably easiest if you close your eyes.

–      Maybe uncross your legs or feet, if they're crossed.

–      Rest your hands in your lap.

–      And simply breathe.

–      As you inhale, let your belly be soft and full—maybe to a count of four or five.

–      Then gently exhale, compressing the air out of your belly to the same count of four or five.

–      Inhale and exhale.

–      two minutes of silence

–      Amen.

Now, do a quick scan of your mind and body, noticing how that was for you. How does it feel in your mind and body, to have sat in silence for two minutes focusing on God? As I said, there’s no pressure to not have had any thoughts. There is no right or wrong way to do contemplative prayer.

One of my favorite contemplative prayer stories is about an encounter Thomas Keating—who is credited as being one of the founders of the practice—had with a group of nuns he was teaching. One of the sisters came up to Keating and said, “Oh, Father Keating, I am so frustrated. I tried to keep my focus on God, but my mind wanders so easily. I must have had to bring my awareness back at least 1000 times!”

To which Keating smiled and said, “How wonderful to have had over 1000 opportunities to focus on God.”

Even though there’s no wrong way to practice contemplative prayer, there are some helpful tools you might want to experiment with. During this next time of silence, I invite you to use a sacred word to bring yourself back to God’s presence. You might breathe out, saying a word like “love” in your mind, and simply rest on your inhale. Other words you might try on are:

–      Abba

–      Jesu

–      Come Lord

–      Peace

–      Be Still

Maybe you’ll find that two words used in conjunction work better for you. I like to hear the word “holy” as I breathe in, and then the word “grace” as I breathe out. It’s as if I’m taking in/absorbing God’s holiness and then breathing out God’s grace into the world.

So, for the next three minutes of silence, try on a word that feels sacred to you. And remember, you’re only goal is to focus on God. If your mind starts to wander, use your word or your breath to bring your awareness back to God.

 Again…

–      Get comfortable in your seat.

–      Close your eyes.

–      And begin breathing with intention.

–      Inhaling and exhaling.

–      Three minutes of silence

–      Amen.

Do another quick mind/body scan to notice how that was for you. As I said, there’s no right or wrong way to do this, so if the sacred word you tried felt awkward, try something different next time. The important thing is to—rather than beating yourself up, because it didn’t go as well as you’d hoped—give yourself credit for trying.

In our passage from 2nd Corinthians, the Apostle Paul reminds us that God’s “grace is sufficient for” us, and that God’s power is made perfect in [our] weakness." In other words, it is in our vulnerability—in our willingness to try—where we find God. When we’re vulnerable with God, God strengthens us.

Contemplative prayer is a form of self-care. It builds up our compassion, courage and resilience. It’s something you can practice anywhere you are. You might try it at home for five minutes a few days. And, after a few weeks, maybe build up to ten minutes a day.

I suggest setting a timer on your phone to free yourself up to simply breath, instead of having to watch the clock. And if you're interested, we’d love to have you join our group the second Thursday of each month from 1–1:40pm. Some of us meet in person, right here in this altar area, and some join us via zoom.

I’ll wrap us up with a quote from one of the brothers in the Episcopal monastic community called the Society of St. John the Evangelist. He wrote:

Through contemplative prayer we learn to rest in an unknowing stillness, to descend from our heads and dwell in our hearts where we discover God’s beautiful truth, infinite love, and the light of Christ waiting for us. In gratitude, we might find ourselves sharing that light with the world.

-AMEN.