Centering prayer is a form of prayer that declares there are too many words out there in the world and too many words up in our heads. We value words, and acknowledge that God has revealed himself in words, spoken and written, but we also know that God transcends words and even that all words are derivative of the Word, God himself revealed in human form in the person of Jesus. Centering prayer is a silent prayer, in which we consciously place ourselves in the presence of God, allowing conscious thoughts and word-streams to pass through our heads without lodging there. We may use an verbal anchor, a short phrase, to keep drawing us back to God but the main point is to empty our heads in order to spend time with God in wordless communication.
The next article I write, sometime over the summer, will be a defense of centering prayer. It's a "defense" because many people in the evangelical Protestant tradition are uncomfortable with the idea of centering prayer. Here are a few of the common objections that are raised:
1. The idea of "emptying" sounds too much like other religious traditions, especially eastern traditions. Centering prayer could give the impression that we are trying emptying ourselves of our own personalities, desires, and individuality, an idea more in line with Buddhism than Christianity.
2. The title "centering prayer" sounds like a New Age practice.
3. We as Christians are called to fill our minds with God's words, and to actively meditate on the scriptures, rather to passively sit in silence.
I'm just getting started on this work, and so at the outset my questions for you are these:
1. Have you practiced centering prayer, and if so, what has been your experience? And though the "benefits" are not what we put immediately in front of us, what have the benefits been for you?
2. Do you agree with the above objections, and if so, how would you elaborate on them?
3. Or do you disagree with the above objections, and if so, how would you respond to them.
Thanks everyone. I would love to hear your impressions and thoughts.
I think centering prayer has been given a bad rap!
ReplyDeleteAs an extreme introvert forced to the external all day, I need centering prayer to rid myself of the day and external influences so that I can be in the presence of God without those distractions and influences.
I use centering prayer for the same reason before reading Holy Scripture.
I want to hear God and centering prayer, for me, is the path to stillness where I might hear that still, small voice.
Way back when I was a seeker at CMC, and very shy/skeptical about prayer in general, I was introduced to centering prayer by one of my friends on campus - another introvert, and the person I would come to most trust over the years as I meandered my way to Christ. I'd had some experience with meditation - largely as a means of controlling stress, somewhat also because of my past exploration of those same eastern traditions - so it was a comfortable space for me, a way to say, "hey God, if you're there, here I am... I don't know what to say to you or if I even feel comfortable talking to you or being in your presence... but I'm here if you want me." I particularly appreciated that it was entirely private - just me and my friend sitting in silence together, knowing we were both focusing on the same thing, sharing a purpose, but without the exposure from so much of the public, verbal prayer that seemed to be the norm. Twenty minutes of silence, of listening, was hard... I remember the feeling at the end of it, like rising up from the bottom of the deep end of the pool to come back to the world - and I remember, clearly, the sense that while I certainly hadn't "heard" anything, I also hadn't just been sitting there, either. I'd had an experience, and it was one of the many small moments, stepping stones, that I can trace in my walk toward God. Centering prayer remains important to me to this day, and a regular part of my own disciplines.
ReplyDeleteI think that underlying many of the reasons you have to defend centering prayer from attackers is a fundamental distrust of that which cannot be controlled. An emptied mind, some believe, is a place of chaos. Idle hands are the devil's plaything. Anything can happen when the mind isn't directed and disciplined, and who knows what sort of thoughts you're opening yourself up to (they fear).
And they're right to have that fear - those silent prayers are so often the source of our most difficult internal confrontations. To continue the water metaphor, when you go to the bottom of your internal ocean and stir the sands, sometimes ugly things rise in the murk. You're not engaging the usual defense mechanisms, and you can't hide behind passages of scripture you've chosen because they're innocuous or you already understand them.
Centering prayer is an act of trust - trust that when you ask for God to meet you, it will be God you find, that God will raise in you what you need to see and at the same time, protect you from it, carry you through... that he will be the air you breathe while you've gone under, and the sunlight when you break the surface again. Not for nothing, I believe, do Quakers engage in a form of centering prayer in a group. The support of others gives courage and comfort for what may be difficult to engage in alone.
Centering prayer is a deeply individual thing - which many distrust - but at its best I believe it is also communal. You can tell, can feel, when silence is filled with God. For reasons of developing that sensitivity alone, I believe it is worth it, and worth the fight to defend and expand the practice.
This is a time honored part of the discipline of prayer. There are discipleship programs that are popular and use this as a part of preparing for prayer, only under a different name...making a worry list. Emptying ourselves of the stuff that chokes out the Spirit's voice is critical.
ReplyDeleteThanks for addressing this topic. I think there is a great value and place for the idea of centering prayer in our lives as Christians. You are right that many respond to this idea with the piece about always needing to fill our minds. This is true, but I also think that this is, at times, an excuse to simple quiet our minds and hearts so that we can actually hear what God is wanting to say to us. Prayer (and our relationship as a whole) with God is about way more than just constantly talking. We must listen, and in order to do that, we need to quiet (or center) or life, mind, and heart on Christ.
ReplyDeleteI have run into those same objections. I think the vocabulary is responsible for some of that, and simply using alternate language can help.
ReplyDeleteInstead of "emptying," how about "quieting" or "silencing"?
Instead of "centering," how about "focusing prayer."
Scriptures such as "be still and know I am God" can help justify what may be a new or unfamiliar practice for many.
It seems to me that much of the objection to centering prayer is rooted in fear. It sounds too "new age" or "eastern religion" mystical. And, yes, Robert, I think you're correct that the vocabulary is responsible for some of that. I think also, that we've not recognized and acknowledged that as humans, we're wired to seek out spiritual experiences in certain ways. Whether we're worshiping the Jehovah God of Christianity or something/someone else, the human process is basically the same. It's kind of like saying that if someone rides a bicycle to a voodoo temple, then I shouldn't ride a bicycle to my church because a bicycle was used to access evil. It's sad that we allow our fear to cheat us out of fully experiencing relationship with our Creator. Apologies for the trite phrase but, let's not throw out the baby with the bath water.
ReplyDeleteMy defense of Centering Prayer has a lot to do with the smorgasbord of experiences God has led me through (or has let me go through) up to now. When I dove into Christianity in college, I discovered Merton and rediscovered the Catholicism I was born into. But after (too) much reading, I went into a sort of cafeteria mystic mode with a personal spirituality that picked and chose praxis-centric Scripture verses while glossing over fundamental soteriological and eschatological ones. Then, I'd read these verses through the lens of Merton, Rahner, De Mello, Keating, and other (overly?-)inclusivistic veins of teaching, a la Jacques Dupuis.
ReplyDeleteMy practice of Centering Prayer was, to put it bluntly, part of an immature, and overpersonalized spirituality that unfortunately downplayed the uniqueness of Christ...Nonetheless, through that practice, I still had what I believe to be profound and genuine experiences of God's presence, both internally...and externally (!).
As a spoiled Gen Y kid, entering the working world was a culture shock, and, well, struggling through it required me to acknowledge my weaknesses and really, really learn what the cross and grace were all about. Then I finally understood what Merton meant when he described contemplation as a gift (i.e., a grace!). And he emphasized that over, and over, and over again in writing - and I couldn't believe how many times I'd glossed over it before! Just read New Seeds of Contemplation and see how he warns readers over and over that you can-NOT earn the gift of contemplative prayer (contra accusations of the practice being too Eastern and too works-based).
I digress. I will also mention that I went through three years of therapy through my late college and early working years, half of which was under a truly gracious Christian counselor.
Let me get to my point. I still practice Centering Prayer, and it's truly a blessing (I'll add that I no longer identify as Catholic; I've been involved in a church of the "empowered evangelical" stripe). My experience of Centering Prayer is only enhanced by my understanding of the Father's grace that's shown through the unique person and work of Jesus. I hardly see it as emptying the mind, but as other commenters have noted, it is a way to assume a posture of listening, to focus on what the Father wants to speak into our hearts.
And the reason I mention therapy is because I believe there's also a psychological component (echoing Casey's comment). In quieting the idle chatter of our conscious mind, and by being still, God can and does use things tucked away in the back to give us insight about our fallen (but saved) selves. In many centering prayer times, God showed me images and emotions from the attic. And they wouldn't have come down if not for the grace of that silence. Then, I'm shown how He is healing those parts of my past by His saving and reconciling work. Christ is the Great Physician, after all.
Or sometimes He just leads me to a quiet place to sit by His side, to sit at His feet, or to fall at them (and He provides the anointing perfume). It's all about choosing the one thing necessary.
My $0.02.
Looking back at the first few years after my conversion, it's funny to realize now that nobody taught me what centering prayer was, but I was doing it naturally. I think a lot of that is due to my extreme introversion. For me I find that centering prayer settles me down. It helps me to get my mind focused on God. I do centering prayer before I study the Bible and before I pray out loud. Sometimes I don't make it to praying out loud though. There is something about silence that gives me peace that I don't get from praying out loud sometimes. Good insights Adam.
ReplyDeleteLove these comments! So, here's another question: does anyone out there have a commitment to the name "centering prayer"? If so, why? If not, what are some better alternatives?
ReplyDeleteActually centering prayer is a new name to me. I've never given it a name really. When I do describe it I just call it silent meditation. Or I describe it by describing the Desert Fathers. I like silent prayer, rather than centering prayer.
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of "centering prayer" until a couple of months ago. When I investigated just what it was, I found out that, like Jadkins said above, I've been doing it, or something similar, naturally. I've heard it called something like "getting quiet before the Lord." I don't really care what it's called. I'd like to get back to practicing it more regularly and intentionally.
ReplyDeleteFrankly, I think of "centering prayer" as being part of that strange language I call "Christianese." I'll use the term on the rare occasion I have cause to talk about this discipline with evangelicals because it's what they're more familiar and comfortable with, but really, in my own mind what I'm doing is *gasp* meditating. Now there's a scary eastern-philosophy word for you!
ReplyDeleteActually centering prayer is a new name to me. I've never given it a name really. When I do describe it I just call it silent meditation. Or I describe it by describing the Desert Fathers. I like silent prayer, rather than centering prayer.
ReplyDeleteThis is a time honored part of the discipline of prayer. There are discipleship programs that are popular and use this as a part of preparing for prayer, only under a different name...making a worry list. Emptying ourselves of the stuff that chokes out the Spirit's voice is critical.
ReplyDelete