Eyes Open

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I'm enjoying my eyes-open centering prayer practice. My life pushed me into it, though. When I first learned about centering prayer/meditation, I had traveled to the Hudson River Valley and ensconced myself in a Benedictine monastery there (with about 20-30 people from my theological seminary). In an ancient basement room, arches of stone creating column-obscuring views, we were taught to sit, with eyes closed, and focus on God. Nary a worldly or bodily distraction should shift us, and if an unwanted itch or slight pinch arose, acknowledge it and let the sensation go.

Later, when I sat in a centering prayer circle in Memphis, a similar exhortation came. With both feet on the ground, hands comfortably on legs or chair, our eyes were to close and all focus be on God regardless of what the body or world around us may do. Later still, during another educational adventure, a professor taught Eastern Meditation with similar guidance: sit still, eyes closed and see what floats down the river of consciousness and let it go, and focus again on breath, on being.

The preponderance of teachers saying the same thing about similar practices usually means the wisdom of time and practice lays a foundation which imparts the benefit of the exercise. In other words, no need to upset the apple cart, but. . .

When barre class runs late, or it's Friday and Krispy Kreme *must* be purchased, and the faithful group of "simple presence" practitioners meet promptly at 6:30. . .well, centering prayer becomes wrapped with visions of Shades Creek gurgling under the bridge, the emergence of red maple leaves, the greening of the tulip magnolia. Prayer also converges with sparrow song, cawing crows, shrieking hawks and the flurry of bird activity hailing the rising sun.  Cool air, the scent of cherry blossoms, the sickly green coat of pine pollen weave their own tapestry of story, of yearning, of praise - and God ceases to exist in the singular space behind my closed lids and expands to fill all the "circling spheres." 

I've sensed the whisper to watch, feel, listen, smell and taste God in the center of all of my life: the active moving parts AND the quiet, sitting still ones. 

PRACTICE

Lectio Divina: Read the following passage through after a few deep breaths and pay attention to any word or phrase which sticks out for you. Read through again and pay attention to anything further you notice about the word/phrase and how it applies to you. Read through again and spend time in prayer with the word/phrase asking God what you need to understand/know/do with the word/phrase (i.e., How might God be guiding you? What needs your further action? Where may your understanding need to be changed or expanded? How may this impact your relationship with someone else?). End with a time of thanksgiving. 

Psalm 24:1-2, NRSV

Entrance into the Temple

Of David. A Psalm.

1 The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it,
    the world, and those who live in it,
2 for he has founded it on the seas
    and established it on the rivers.