| UPCOMING EVENTS |
|
Mishka Productions presents
Celebrate Your Life
November 5 - 8, 2010
JW Marriott
at Desert Ridge
5350 E. Marriott Drive
Phoenix, AZ 85054
|
| Quote of the Month |
"Since we cannot change reality, let us change the eyes which see reality."
--Nikos Kazantzakis
|
| PRAYER |
Lord, let me see
what I need to see,
not what I want to see.
Lord, let me hear
what I need to hear, not what I want to hear.
Guide me in my quiet time to hear your voice.
|
GODpillow
Gift Certificates |
|
Great for:
Birthdays
Sobriety Anniversaries
Baptism
Communion
Confirmation
Wedding
Anniversary
Bereavement Christmas
Hanukkah
Mother's Day
Valentines Day
or just because you care!
Send a Gift Certificate with a personal message and have it emailed same day!
Never Late, No Stress, No Worries, No Waiting
|
| JOIN OUR LIST |
|
|
|
 Dear Cindy,
In the midst of all the daily busy-ness, we tend to forget one of the most important aspects of daily life. It is the time we spend taking care of our inner soul that we find in silence. It is in being God-centered that creates the peace that governs and guides us throughout the day. "Centering" is so important that I have provided some insight for you to absorb and practice.
Enjoy our first edition, and the new launch of GODpillow.com. We value your comments, thoughts and experience; your participation is important to us and to our GODpillow Community, because together we share in awareness.
Cindy the GODpillow Lady
|
|
What is Centering Prayer?
|
|
"Centering prayer as a discipline is designed to withdraw our attention from the ordinary flow of our thoughts. We tend to identify ourselves with that flow. But there is a deeper part of ourselves. This prayer opens our awareness to the spiritual level of our being. This level might be compared to a great river on which our memories, images, feelings, inner experiences, and the awareness of outward things are resting.
Many people are so identified with the ordinary flow of their thoughts and feelings that they are not aware of the source from which these mental objects are emerging. Like boats or debris floating along the surface of a river, our thoughts and feelings must be resting on something. They are resting on the inner stream of consciousness, which is our participation in God's being. That level is not immediately evident to ordinary consciousness. Since we are not in immediate contact with that level, we have to do something to develop our awareness of it. It is the level of our being that makes us most human. The values that we find there are more delightful than the values that float along the surface of the psyche. We need to refresh ourselves at this deep level every day. Just as we need exercise, food, rest and sleep, so also we need moments of interior silence because they bring the deepest kind of refreshment."
....pg 35 Open Mind, Open Heart, Thomas Keating.
|
Getting Centered: a personal experience
|
By Joe Librie
 Experience of the transcendent and of the presence of God is our greatest need today. Either at home, or on the job, every one of us is affected, to some degree, by the widespread violence, personal alienation, loneliness, boredom, monotony, confusion and meaninglessness of contemporary society. All these are signs that we are becoming increasingly out of touch with our own true selves and with the God who is he "ground of our being." Many find that the ordinary practice of their religion somehow does not provide them, in any practical ongoing way, with some experience of the transcendent. They feel that they know much about God, but that they do not know God.
The practice of "centering prayer," meditation if you like, is one effective response to this tragic situation. For some, it may prove to be what they have long been searching for.
It is one thing to know about God, and quite another to know God. This is also true of prayer, especially contemplative, or mystical prayer. We may read much about contemplation with little effect in our spiritual journey. What is often missing is practice, discipline, ongoing daily sessions of contemplative prayer. Since true prayer is dynamic, the best way to learn to pray is to pray. Theory and understanding are important, but secondary. Consequently, the emphasis in "centering" is finding that quiet interior place where we pray without words...without thoughts...without the false self.
When practiced in a communal setting, together with regular teaching, open sharing, and discussion, there seems to be a collective energy not present when sitting in one's own space. Not that there is a hierarchy of "centering" or praying. There are benefits in all forms of prayer. It is important to be patient with ourselves, and with one another. Growth in prayer is not a straight line process. It is filled with mystery and wonder.
We cannot see ourselves growing spiritually. Others often observe changes in us that we do not see or even suspect. God leads us in ways that we do not expect, through difficulties we do not anticipate, and which we see and understand only in retrospect. We must be patient with ourselves. Gradually, we will experience God's presence in the "darkness" of faith. We will become, more and more convinced that He is leading us in ways we did not plan and cannot understand. Our God is a God of surprises. One day we will see that His tender love for us was working in things that now confuse us and perhaps even frighten us.
It is with courage, then, that we stay still and quiet. Trusting in our God. Trusting in ourselves to just 'be' in His presence. The illusory world and all its troubles will still be spinning when we return from the center. And, for the briefest of moments, we will have experienced the loving presence within. This is what is meant by being 'inspired,' in-spirited: to be truly at the place where the divine rests in each of us; the place where there is the peace beyond peace.
Copyright Life Management Design @ 2010
|
|
|
If you enjoyed this newsletter, pass it on to a friend! Don't forget to follow us on Facebook or tweet with us on Twitter.
A person just like you,
Cindy the GODpillow Lady    |
|
|
increase font size
