Step 11 says "Sought through prayer and meditation..." In Centering Prayer meditation, we tend to the meditation portion of this step — but what about the prayer part?
Join me this Saturday, May 13, as I share one of my favorite types of prayer of late: Welcoming Prayer, a resource from Contemplative Outreach, the national organization that promotes Centering Prayer. I find it to be just the right antidote for the discomfort that can come as our unconsciousness unloads through the “divine therapy” of the Centering Prayer practice. I’m looking forward to being with you! ~Julie G.
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On Saturday, May 13, I’ll be talking about Step 12 — specifically, how the transformation that occurs with Centering Prayer lines up and informs our ability to “practice these principles" and "carry the message to others."
See you there. ~Mary L. The Big Book tells us that with Step 10 “we have entered the world of the Spirit,” and “Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God’s will into all of our activities.” For me, this translates into maintaining constructive relationships with the world around me.
But who or what are my “stakeholders” and how do I attempt to maintain these relationships? I’ll reflect on these and other issues on April 8. Join us at Colonial Church. ~Glenn K. So — why am I so angry all the time? Why is my behavior so outrageous? Why can't I maintain relationships and more? Who’s responsible for this? How can it change?
How can I change? Let's explore emotional sobriety together on April 8. ~Dick Y. Centering Prayer is a relationship with the God of our understanding. Everything we do in it — carve out time and space, sit quietly with eyes closed, allow our thoughts to drift by, recall our sacred word — is in service of this relationship. I believe my discovery of this practice, and my willingness to return to it, are a pure gift of my Higher Power.
Everything in the Twelve Steps is in service of this relationship too. The Steps enable us to develop a personal relationship with our Creator by helping us remove the obstacles that are blocking us from it, which, as it turns out, are also the things that block us from true partnership with others. The 8th and 9th Steps require us to move toward the people we have hurt - to consciously move toward the pain we have caused, rather than continue avoiding it. In so doing, we get to face who we are with honesty and humility, and as we learn to forgive, we start to learn what it means to be forgiven. Join me on March 11, when I’ll share what I’ve learned about this vital process. ~Adam G. The inner work of my Creator, which I invite through my practice of Centering Prayer, can be quite disruptive. I have found myself bombarded with unsettling emotions and rapid-fire thoughts that are not always of a pleasant nature. It has been reassuring to learn from people who’ve been on the path for a long time that this is what can be expected, accepted, and even welcomed.
On March 11, I will share some of what I have experienced of this process of "emotional dumping.” ~Jay McG. I have not often been entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character, as Step 6 suggests we become. However, I’ve found that willingness to have this happen got me pretty far along in that Step, even during those times when I was not entirely ready. Thank HP that this is a program of progress and not perfection!
Recently, I came across this quote from the spiritual teacher Nouk Sanchez: “Trusting in God’s Will to resolve everything elicits a deep sense of gratitude that’s felt in advance. There is no shred of doubt about the outcome, even if we cannot see what the outcome might be…. It’s a certainty of faith that God is All-Loving.” As my understanding and experience of HP shifts throughout my recovery, I believe more and more firmly that God is Absolute Love — a love so absolute that there is no opposite to it. It’s just Love. As this belief/experience of God has deepened, it has allowed me to actually become, at times, entirely ready. I can be willing and ready because it is Love who will remove the defects of character when they no longer are of service to me and others. And Centering Prayer meditation has supported this transformation into trust. I look forward to us sharing our stories on February 11. See you there! ~Julie G. For me, Step 7 has been a sometimes painful, always wonderful replay of good old Step 1, the Step where I received the great gift of a white flag. I was so relieved when my first sponsor told me to stop fighting alcohol, relax, and settle into the buoyancy of the fellowship of AA and the love of a Higher Power.
In Step 7 I discover a pattern just as inflexible and impervious to my unaided will as drinking was: my complex of bone-deep negative character traits, the ones that power up my resentments, my fears, and my compulsive acts of self-seeking. And just as with alcohol, I don’t hate or deride or attack these defects of character; I give them some love and hand them over to God with prayer. Again and again. And I get a little more patient, a little less reactive, a little less selfish, over time — along with plenty of backsliding, forgetfulness of prayer, and self justification. Centering Prayer helps me feel closer to God on a daily basis so those times of forgetfulness of His love are shorter than they used to be. I’m looking forward to seeing you on February 11, when I’ll talk about this and hear from you. ~Jon S. Centering prayer has not only changed my relationship with God, with myself, and with others; it has changed my understanding of my recovery as well. In my talk, I’ll share my experience of 30 years in recovery as a co-dependent adult child, in light of my 20-year practice of centering prayer.
Focusing on Step 4, I’ll reflect on how I have come to understand my “defects of character” as normal responses to a dysfunctional situation: my childhood home. I will use visuals to describe my experience of my “inner child,” of depression, and of the false self. Join me on January 14. ~Mary L. In Steps 4 through 7 we do our best to take an honest look at ourselves, reflect on and admit the exact nature of our wrongs, become entirely ready to let go of our defects of character, and then ask our higher power to remove them.
When we’re working these steps, we naturally take an active role — which involves engagement with our thoughts and self-reflection. With a regular practice of centering prayer, we learn to develop a passive, non-attached perspective on our thoughts and the unconscious memories of experiences and emotions that helped to form our defects of character (as well as the rest of our psyche). As we practice centering prayer, these memories are released from our subconscious and brought to our awareness, individually or in garbled bunches, so that they can be let go of. This process, which is tremendously healing (and can also, at times, be uncomfortable and difficult), is called the “unloading of the unconscious.” It’s a form of divine therapy in which our Higher Power, with our consent through the regular practice of centering prayer, works Steps 4-7 inside of us. On January 14, I’ll talk about the unloading of the unconscious and share how this ongoing process has impacted, and continues to support, my recovery. ~Mark R. |
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