Centering Prayer - The Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5)

A reflection on the Fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5. This is an adaptation from the The Message Bible.

Centering Prayer as taught by Thomas Keating.
1. Choose a sacred word as the symbol of your intention to consent to God’s presence and action within.
2. Sitting comfortably and with eyes closed, settle briefly and silently introduce the sacred word as the symbol of your consent to God’s presence and action within.
3. When engaged with your thoughts [including body sensations, feelings, images, and reflections], return ever so gently to the sacred word.
4. At the end of the prayer period, remain in silence with eyes closed for a couple of minutes.

Join Pastor and Hospice Spiritual Director Ryan T. Schmidt for this 10 min session.

Transcript

Galatians chapter 5,

The fruit of the spirit.

When we are awake to all that spirit is doing within our inner kingdom,

We find the spiritual treasure within is free to be revealed in our outer world as we open and express our true selves.

Spirit brings gifts into our lives much in the same way as vegetables appear in a garden.

Things like affection for others,

Exuberance about life,

Serenity.

We develop a willingness to stick with things,

A sense of compassion in the heart,

And a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people.

We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments,

Not needing to force our way in life,

Able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.

The fruit of the spirit is both outer and inner.

You You You You You Peace You Patience You Kindness You Goodness You Faithfulness You You Gentleness You Self-control You You You

Reviews

❤️ truly appreciate this reminder of loving values to me. Thank you.

That's a good one, thanks for putting it together for us

Thank you. Spiritual directors lead the best prayers! 😁👋

I love the perspective provided by starting with Eugene Peterson's version from *The Message*! Thank you :D

Thanks for this! At a point where I wasn't sure whether God is still working in my life, this meditation got my head and heart reconnected and I saw exactly where He is working - and where I need more of His grace 🙏 we rush through this list so often without taking the time to absorb each of the blessings, so the pauses were ideal. Thank you again 🙏

Thanks, I had forgotten some of these. A nice meditation that simultaneously makes me want to read Paul again.

Beautiful and deep experience. Thank you ❤

That was truely amazing. During this the Lord spoke many things to me. I've been meditating recently upon Isaiah 61:1 concerning the Spirit of the Sovereign Lord who is upon me. Really beautiful meditating on His fruit which can ripen within me.

Thank You. Will be doing this again for sure.

Many Thanks and blessings to you for this wonderful meditation and prayerful meditation of Gods Word🙏🏼

Excellent contemplation on the fruits of the Spirit.

Nice combination of meditation and prayer I'll use again

Lovely practice thank you

I really liked the pace and the pauses helped me to focus on one attribute at a time. Thank U

It was a bit too much talking at first for me, but the list of the fruits with silence between each one made up for it.

This is a perfect way to start my day, praying that I will be filled with the fruit of the Spirit and share it with those around me. Thanks and blessings Ryan

Going to listen to this again now

I needed this today. Thank you. 💜