Posted by Elizabeth Ayres on November 06, 1998 at 19:25:59:
In Reply to: Re: Centering Prayer and Contemplation posted by Anne Ward on November 01, 1998 at 13:41:32:
Like Diane Colbert, I find that what I do now as prayer has no name. I just sit on my prayer bench, with candles lit on my coffee table and Gregorian Chant on the stereo. I just sit, with no prayer word and yes, many thoughts coming and going but I just sit. I'm not seeking "silence," I'm not seeking "enlightenment," I'm not even seeking God. I just sit. Time seems to go by strangely: I think it's been 15 minutes, it's been 30, I think 20, it's been 40. Perhaps one day I'll stop looking at the clock and judging my success or failure by time. I just sit. I think this might be what the Book of Privy Counseling means by "Offer God your very self in simple wholeness, all that you are and just as you are, without concentrating on any particular aspect of your being." I hope so. Because that's all I do, I just sit, and it's prayer, I know that, although I've ceased wondering about stages of prayer, and "infused" versus "acquired" contemplation, etc. I just sit, and after many years of darkness and not being able to pray, just sitting is a great and marvelous blessing. Peace to all who read this. Elizabeth Ayres