Thomas Keating writes that awakening to our innate goodness is a quantum leap in the spiritual journey.
In her poem,
Our Greatest Fear,
Marianne Williamson captures this insight in the following way.
She writes,
It is our light,
Not our darkness,
That most frightens us.
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light,
Not our darkness,
That most frightens us.
We ask ourselves,
Who am I to be brilliant,
Gorgeous,
Talented,
And fabulous?
Actually,
Who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your plain small does not serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us.
It's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.
In the book of Genesis,
This idea is captured in the affirmation that all human persons are made in the image of God.
In other words,
There is a spark of the divine light within each of us,
And contemplative prayer allows us to let go of the things that we clutch and hold onto for a false sense of security that also keep that light locked up inside.
By opening and relaxing our grip,
By surrendering to the divine love and the divine will,
We tap into that innate goodness,
Not by overcoming our human limitations or imperfections,
But simply by accepting ourselves as we are.
Imperfect,
Yet perfectly loved.
Perfectly lovable.
Perfectly worthy of love.
A friend of mine from a 12-step recovery program is fond of repeating that the goal of any program of spiritual recovery or transformation is learning to see myself as God already sees me.
Learning to see myself as God already sees me.
By awakening that innate goodness within ourselves,
We also awaken to the innate goodness in everyone else around us.
As Marianne Williamson puts it,
Unconsciously giving other people permission to do the same.
This is a quantum leap in our journey toward union with God.
May you awaken to that innate goodness now,
In your practice,
In all that you do,
And in all that you are.
Here are the four guidelines to Centering Prayer.
One,
Choose a sacred word as the symbol of your intention to consent to God's presence and action within.
Two,
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.
Three,
When engaged with your thoughts,
Return ever so gently to the sacred word,
Recalling that thoughts can include body sensations,
Feelings,
Images,
Memories,
Or reflections.
And four,
At the end of the prayer period,
Remain in silence with the eyes closed for a couple of minutes.
Two,
When engaged with thoughts,
Recalling that thoughts can include body sensations,
Feelings,
Images,
Emotions,
Or reflections.
Three,
When engaged with thoughts,
Recalling that thoughts can include body sensations,
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