• Home
    • About
  • Prayer Diary
  • Daily Quote
    • Untitled
    • Archives Quote musings 2012
    • Archives, Quote musings 2011
  • Word & Image
  • Resource List
  • Books
  • Prayers and Poems
  • Spiritual Books
  • Archives, scripture
  A Prayer Diary

Thomas Keating's welcoming prayer

4/22/2023

0 Comments

 
Picture1923-2018
Welcome, welcome, welcome. 
I welcome everything that comes to me today, because I know it's for my healing. 
I welcome all thoughts, feelings, emotions, persons, situations, and conditions. 
I let go of my desire for power and control.
I let go of my desire for affection, esteem, approval, and pleasure.
      Fr. Thomas Keating 


I offer you Fr. Thomas Keating's welcoming prayer. I suggest you prayer it when you get up in the morning. It is a powerfully faithful way to start your day. But be prepared, because, if you spend any time with it, the prayer becomes provocative. I've been pondering the first line about healing. I don't like to consider myself in need of healing, and it certainly isn't something I want to dwell on. But there it is, drawing myself to concider what may need healing in me that I'm not aware of nor want to admit.   
        Which section speaks to you; which draws your attention, makes you question, makes you want to stop praying it? Don't stop; God is calling you to welcome everything that comes to you today. 

0 Comments

Stillness, by Thomas Keating

10/28/2020

1 Comment

 
Picture
Our true nature is stillness,
The Source from which we come.
. . . .
The deep listening of pure contemplation
Is the path to stillness.

All words disappear into It,
And all creation awakens to the delight of
Just Being.

                                                    —Thomas Keating, “Stillness”

1 Comment

Death of Fr. Thomas Keating~

10/26/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
Father Thomas Keating died last night. He was 91, suffering from cancer. As we might say, “It was his time,” but nevertheless I am sad because his kind, animated, sparkling visage is no more. Through many audiovisual recordings of conversations, workshops and speeches Fr. Keating nourished my faith and deepened my spiritual practice. Yes, I will continue to watch on YouTube and be refreshed, but I will miss knowing that his earthly light is shining no more.
      We mortals can’t imagine the bliss and peace that now surrounds Fr. Keating, but we have to believe it from our worldly vantage point. Christians embrace the message of hope, which Fr. Keating offered in tangible ways through Centering Prayer and his commitment in bringing the contemplative dimension of the Gospel to the public by co-founding Contemplative Outreach. He lives on through us whenever we pray and sparkle God’s love. 

Fr. Keating's death has not been announced on the Contemplative Outreach website yet. I received notice of it because I subscribe to its daily posts. Keep checking.

www.contemplativeoutreach.org


0 Comments

Breath or sacred word?

10/18/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
    Tonight I’m leading a session on Centering Prayer at my church. I’m no expert, but I show up daily to be in God’s presence, and that’s all that’s required. Show up and sit for twenty minutes with a clear mind. When a thought shows up, let it go, and return to be in God’s presence.
     Fr. Thomas Keating, who in the 1980s articulated contemporary Christian meditation known as Centering Prayer, suggests we chose a sacred word or symbol (such as Om, love, peace) to return to when a thought comes into mind.. “The primary function of the sacred word is not to push thoughts away or to thin them out. It is rather to express our intention to love God, to be in God’s presence, and to submit to the Spirit’s action during the time of prayer.”
      I find a sacred word too distracting.  Like many other meditation practices, I choose to return to my breath, which is always with me. My breath is in my body, whereas a word is in my mind where my thoughts are. And thoughts are the very thing I’m trying to let go of during this time.  
        Sacred word, breath, choose the one that eases you back to faith and love toward God.

0 Comments

Spiritual energy~

2/3/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
    " ... People who are approaching ... spiritual evolution are having an impact on society, because the energy they are channeling is so sublime that it secretly influences social events or decisions anywhere in the world."
This morning, as I read this quote by Thomas Keating on www.contemplativeoutreach.com, it occurred to me that this is what I am striving for in choosing to stay away from reading and watching the news and refraining from talking about politics. I’m often not successful, but I’m getting better and better at returning to my purpose, which is to live prayerfully and positively. As God calls me to intercessory prayer, God calls me to step outside the hubbub of many areas of public life. I have to listen to what God wants me to do to help ‘Thy kingdom come’.
     I have no illusion that everyone ought to follow this path; it just my path. I believe, however, that spiritual energy can change the world.


0 Comments

Costly grace~

7/16/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
     “The dying process is a process created by God to release the forces of divine energy within the soul that have always been there.” Thomas Keating, a faithful Christian monk who has spent his 93 years discerning such things, offers this wisdom. My hospice experience opened me to the truth that God embraces the dying and takes them to Himself, and, that in some mysterious way they know God is with them.
     As I sit in my sunny back yard, how easy it is to resonate with Keating’s profound understanding. Dietrich Bonhoeffer might warn me of ‘cheap grace’. And yet, when I turn on the news, I am confronted with the ‘costly grace’ experienced by those shot down or run down. My faith must remain bold and courageous, so I can continue to believe that God is with those who have been given only an instant to be embrace by God before the divine energies are released. In some mysterious way, perhaps because they are so horrendous, these atrocities affirm my faith.


0 Comments

Letting God bring me along~

5/28/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
"It must be emphasized over and over that daily life is the fundamental practice."
-- Thomas Keating, The Mystery of Christ  
 
This may be the most difficult of all spiritual practices. I can go to church for a defined period of time on Sunday; I can earmark prayer time each day; I can even gain a healthy habit of Bible reading; I can do good works. But to embrace my entire daily life as a spiritual practice is another kind of challenge. It is not a question of saying, ‘Sure, come along God,’ but of saying yes to God’s way and accepting God as a constant companion. I love the idea, the longing is there, and yet, there are times when I want to go my merry way without God, and other times when it is difficult to bring God along.
But those are excuses. It’s not about being perfect and then making the commitment, but of making the commitment and then letting God bring me along.


0 Comments

Centering prayer--another try~

1/19/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
I’ve started, once again, to meditate. I’ve written about this before—my desire, my commitment, and then I drop the subject because I’ve dropped the practice. So what makes me dare to go public again? What makes me committed with renewed desire? The simple answer is that my longing for God has deepen during this time in Florence. I have committed the time here to being with God, and one of the messages I’ve heard is that if I’m serious about living a life with God, I must get out of my head, I must stop thinking. Centering prayer is practice in doing just that!
This was reinforced last night while reading the latest on-line newsletter from Contemplative Outreach *, the site featuring Thomas Keating, the acknowledged leader of Centering Prayer. I found myself listening to a lecture by Keating on YouTube. In his charming, convincing manner, he was clear that centering prayer formed the foundation for a deep communion with God. By emptying ourselves of thought, we can hear God speaking to us. That’s the gist of what I heard.
So here is my commitment. Two twenty minute periods of centering prayer a day. One in the morning, another in the afternoon. I dare not attempt it in the evening for fear I’d fall asleep. I began this morning at La Badia, where it is very quiet, and I’ll probably return there this afternoon. This obligation is easy to fulfill while I’m in Florence, but at home, well, it will be a challenge. I’ll keep you posted.
 
* “Contemplative Outreach is a spiritual network of individuals and small faith communities committed to living the contemplative dimension of the Gospel. The common desire for Divine transformation, primarily expressed through a commitment to a daily Centering Prayer practice, unites our international, interdenominational community.”
www.contemplativeoutreach.org


0 Comments
    Contact me
    bobbifisher.mac@mac.com

    Archives

    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011

    Categories

    All
    55 Maxims Of Fr. Hopko
    Amy Carmichael
    Anne Lamott
    Art
    Assisi
    Awe
    Bede Griffiths
    Benedict
    Bible
    Billy Graham
    Blessing
    Bliss
    Bonhoeffer
    Books
    Breathe
    Brigit
    Call
    Canticle Of The Sun
    Celtic Daily Prayer
    Centering Prayer
    Christ
    Christian Life
    Christmas
    Church
    Cloud Of Unknowing
    Coleridge
    Communion
    Compassion
    Contemplation
    Contemplation And Action
    Contemplation And Action
    Cottage By The Sea
    Craft
    Cross Roads
    Cynthia Bourgeault
    Dad
    Daily Prayer
    David Steindl-Rast
    Death
    Death And Dying
    Desert Mothers And Fathers
    Desiderata
    Dietrich Bonhoeffer
    Doris Grumbach
    Dostoyevsky
    Easter
    Edinburgh
    Emmet Fox
    Energy
    Ermetic Life
    Eve Kiley
    Everyday Simplicity
    Faith
    Fasting
    Father Maximos
    Fear
    Florence
    Food
    Forgiveness
    Frederick Buechner
    Friends
    Fruit Of The Spirit
    Gardens
    Gift
    Giving And Receiving
    Giving Thanks
    Giving Thanks
    God Moment
    Grace
    Gratitude
    Harold Rohheiser
    Healing
    Health
    Heart
    Hildegard De Bigen
    Holy Spirit
    Holy Week
    Hope
    Hospitality
    Howard Thurman
    Humility
    Humor
    I Believe
    Icons
    Incarnation
    Intercessory Prayer
    Intercessory Prayer
    Iona
    Iona Prayer Circle
    Ireland
    Italy
    James Martin
    Jeffrey M. Gallagher
    Jesus
    Jesus Prayer
    Joan Chittister
    Job
    Julian Of Norwich
    Kate Tristram
    Katherine Paterson
    Kazantzakis
    Kinds Of Prayer
    Kingdom
    Kyriacos C. Markides
    Laura Hillenbrand
    Lent
    Louie Zamparini
    Love
    Madeline L'Engle
    Maranatha
    Margaret Bullitt Jonas
    Margaret Bullitt-Jonas
    Marsha Sinetar
    Martin B. Copenhaver
    Mary Luti
    Mary Oliver
    Matthew 25
    Max Ehrmann
    Meditation
    Meeting Jesus In The Gospel Of John
    Meister Eckhart
    Midrash
    Ministry
    Miracles
    Mom
    Monastery
    Monastery Of The Heart
    Morton Kelsey
    Mountain Of Silence
    Moving
    Music
    Mystery
    Nature
    Northumbria Community
    Now
    Oliver Herford
    Oswald Chambers
    Othona Community
    Outreach
    Oxyrtynchus Manuscript
    Pamela Dalton St. Francis
    Peace
    Phyllis Tickle
    Pilgrimage
    Pope Francis
    Praise
    Prayer
    Prayer List
    Prayer Questions
    Prayer Questions
    Prayer Shawls
    Prayer Walk
    Pray Without Ceasing
    Psalms
    Raven's Bread
    Reading
    Religious Orders
    Retreat
    Richard Rohr
    Robert J. Wicks
    Rome
    Ronald Rolheiser
    Ross King
    Rule Of Life
    Sabbath
    Sacred Places
    Sacrifice
    Scotland
    Scripture
    Silence
    Simone Weil
    Simplicity
    Sister Madonna Kolbenschlag
    Skye
    Society Of Saint John The Evangelist
    Sol
    Solitude
    Son Of Man
    Spiritual Exercises
    SSJE
    St Augustine685a78b5bd
    St Benedict2e69d019b8
    St Brigid8a489d0d27
    St Francisb0c25165c2
    St Francisda1a8c4071
    St Ignatius97c6861c0b
    Suffering
    Taize Lent743fec0e30
    Talking With God
    Thanksgiving
    Theophan The Recluse
    The Reader
    Thomas Keating
    Thomas Merton
    Thomas-merton
    Thy Will Be Done
    Trinity
    Unbroken
    Upper Room
    Walking With God
    Walter Ciszek
    Way Of A Pilgrim
    Welcoming Prayer
    Wm Paul Young757e23b986
    Wonder
    Writing

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly