Spirituality/How to Pray

Many of us have a desire to pray more deeply, but feel that the profound prayer of contemplation is beyond our possibilities and capabilities. Sr. Kathryn Hermes wants you to believe your heart when it asks for this deeper, more profound experience of prayer.

Beginning Contemplative Prayer is a practical guide to contemplation. It invites the reader to “try on” various prayer practices, exploring the methods of Brother Lawrence, John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, Ignatius of Loyola, Julian of Norwich, and others.

Prayer exercises are offered throughout, and individual and group prayer guides are also included.

“Kathryn Hermes, FSP, writes clearly and passionately of her topic: the passage from the chaos we too often experience, to the quiet of contemplation in which our hearts encounter God and fi nd rest. Her tone throughout is warm and encouraging; her content is solidly rooted in the Catholic spiritual tradition. Readers will discover that beginning contemplative prayer is indeed possible. I warmly recommend this book.”

— Timothy Gallagher, O.M.V.Author of Meditation and Contemplation: An Ignatian Guide to Prayer with Scripture

Kathryn James Hermes’ books include Surviving Depression, Making Peace with Yourself, and Saint Joseph: Help for Life’s Emergencies. A member of the Daughters of St. Paul, she has an M.T.S. from Weston Jesuit School of Theology and an advanced certifi cate in Scripture. Besides her work for the Pauline Book and Media Centers and in digital publishing, she is a spiritual companion and gives numerous presentations throughout the country. She lives in Massachusetts.

$12.95 U.S.

“This is a very helpful introduction to prayer—practical, down-to-earth, and enlightening. Sister Kathryn takes the reader on a tour ofsome of the great teachers of prayer in the Christian tradition and helpsto make their teachings concrete and applicable to daily life in ourworld. She provides exercises in every chapter and a study guide thatwill help readers to help one another. I recommend the book highly.”

William A. Barry, S.J.Author of Finding God in All Things

“Sister Hermes deftly teaches the reader how to apply the oldteachings of the mystics to the new reality of our lives.”

Mark E. Thibodeaux, S.J.Author of Armchair Mystic: Easing into Contemplative Prayer

“As a vocation director, I have found this book to be an invaluabletool to help young women in discernment cultivate and enrich theirprayer. It lays before us a rich sampling of the Church’s history and wis-dom regarding prayer patterns and forms. I know several deacon for-mation programs that also use this book. No matter where we are inour own life of prayer, Beginning Contemplative Prayer can help us to ‘prayalways and never lose heart’ (Lk 18:1).”

Sr. Helena Raphael Burns, FSPVocation Director, Chicago, Illinois

“Sr. Kathryn Hermes’s revised edition of Beginning ContemplativePrayer invites its readers to embark on a wonderful inner journey—ajourney into the world of contemplative prayer. She skillfully intro-duces a wide variety of prayer forms through the teachings of some ofthe great mystics of the spiritual life.

“Yet, the author makes it clear that while information is helpful, itwill not of itself make of us ‘contemplative pray-ers.’We must begin byplunging into prayer ourselves. With this in mind, she offers numeroussuggestions to help both the beginner and those who have long beenfaithful to prayer.

“From her own life and prayer experiences, Sr. Kathryn offers sug-gestions about how to begin this journey into God and how to deal

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with distractions, confusion, fear, and other emotions that may surface.She also encourages the reader to learn from the experiences of themystics how to live fully and consciously the present moment, for it isin the NOW that God is found. To all who are perhaps intimidated bythis venture, she offers the reassurance that God is a gentle and lovingGod who desires only our good and who calls us into deeper and deep-er intimacy.”

Helene Cote, p.m.Spiritual and Retreat Director,

Marie Joseph Spiritual Center, Biddeford, Maine

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�

Sweetest Jesus and Christ,send . . . the gentle dew of the Holy Spirit

that I may wail and cry out the aches of my heart.

Saint Mechtild of MagdeburgThe Soul Afire

�

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BeginningContemplative

Prayer

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Out of Chaos Into Quiet

Kathryn J. Hermes, FSP

BOOKS & MEDIABoston

BeginningContemplative

Prayer

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hermes, Kathryn.Beginning contemplative prayer : out of chaos into quiet / Kathryn J. Hermes.

p. cm.Includes bibliographical references (p. 167).ISBN 0-8198-1176-9 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Contemplation. I. Title.BV5091.C7H47 2009248.3’4—dc22

2009031492

The Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible:Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993, Division of Christian Education of the NationalCouncil of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. Allrights reserved.

Many manufacturers and sellers distinguish their products through the use of trademarks. Anytrademark designations that appear in this book are used in good faith but are not authorizedby, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

Cover design by Rosana Usselmann

Cover photo by Mary Emmanuel Alves, FSP

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or byany means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any informationstorage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

“P” and PAULINE are registered trademarks of the Daughters of St. Paul.

Copyright © 2009, Daughters of St. Paul

Published by Pauline Books & Media, 50 Saint Paul’s Avenue, Boston, MA 02130-3491

Printed in the U.S.A.

www.pauline.org

Pauline Books & Media is the publishing house of the Daughters of St. Paul, an internationalcongregation of women religious serving the Church with the communications media.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 13 12 11 10 09

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Contents

Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Part I

ENCOUNTER:THE RHYTHM BEGINS

CHAPTER 1

Cultivate Stillness and Silence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

CHAPTER 2

Live Gently on the Earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

CHAPTER 3

Invite God to Come Near. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

CHAPTER 4

Soak in Love . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

CHAPTER 5

Prepare to Ascend the Heights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

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Part II

ENGAGEMENT:THE PRACTICE OF PRAYER

CHAPTER 6

Remain in God’s Presence:Lessons from Brother Lawrence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

CHAPTER 7

Let the Spirit Direct You:Lessons from Saint Ignatius of Loyola . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

CHAPTER 8

Experience the Longing to Touch God:Lessons from Lectio Divina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

CHAPTER 9

Simply LoveLessons from The Cloud of Unknowing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

CHAPTER 10

Prayer toward Union:Lessons from Saint Teresa of Avila . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

CHAPTER 11

Transformation in Christ:Lessons from the Life of Blessed James Alberione . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

CHAPTER 12

Wrapped in the Heart of God:Lessons from the Life of Simone Weil. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

CHAPTER 13

The Courtesy of God:Lessons from the Life of Blessed Julian of Norwich . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

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Part III

COMMITMENT:THE TOTAL GIFT

CHAPTER 14

Commit to Freedom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

CHAPTER 15

Commit to Life in the Spirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

CHAPTER 16

Commit to Reconciliation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

CHAPTER 17

Commit to Carrying Christ’s Cross . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

CHAPTER 18

Commit in the Dark Night . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Part IV

PERSEVERANCE:PRELUDE TO TRANSFORMATION

CHAPTER 19

Keep Walking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

CHAPTER 20

Seek Spiritual Direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

CHAPTER 21

Tell What You Have Seen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

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APPENDIX A

Five-week Personal Plan for Growth in Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

APPENDIX B

To Hear the Whisper of Jesus:Guide for Personal or Group Study of Beginning Contemplative Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

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Preface

Stretch!

In these pages I seek to address the single most important ques-tion for the Christian today: How do I find God? When our soulsare thirsty for the spiritual, how do we find the time to contem-plate, and, more importantly, what do we do during that time?Does the ancient mystical tradition of the Church mean anythingtoday in a world so quickly changing? What do we do whenpraying seems merely tacked on to our life? What happens whenwe have no time for contemplative prayer? What are the paths toinner peace when our hearts need healing? How do we hold onto a foundational experience of God’s self-revelation to us? Canwe truly hear God speaking to us, calling us by name?

Saint Paul says, “For to me, living is Christ...” (Phil 1:21).However, what was for Paul a dynamic force for change, a pow-erhouse of transformation, has been in our day too often tamedand comfortably stowed away in a closet. “Yes, I am Catholic,”people will say. “You’ll see me at Mass. I’ll comment on Churchissues based on a secular newspaper article. I take my kids toCCD. Before Christmas we have an Advent wreath on thekitchen table.”

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At his birth the Son of God burst into history as a torrent oflove to save us from sin and death, so that the whole universewould converge in the heart of the Trinitarian God—that heartwhich we now call our home. How could all of this have beenreduced to an Advent wreath and comments on religious issues?

What happened to the bold teaching of the apostle Paul? Ihave become Christ. I have become Christ for you, so you can see him,so you can hear him, so you can become Christ yourself. Grow! Stretch!Practice! Learn! Change! Mature!

Edges of Growth

Since the original release of Beginning Contemplative Prayer,five things have deepened within me as a person and as a writer.First, due to the help of mentors and guides, I have a greater sen-sitivity to the power of affectivity and imagination that havehelped me move from my head to my heart—often said to be thelongest journey we travel in life. Second, through retreats inwhich directors have helped me transform my present by healingpast hurts, I have learned a greater appreciation for the treasureof healing prayer. Third, I received an unexpected gift from Godof being able to experience and share love in profound ways.Fourth, I have been given the immense privilege of accompanyingothers in the unfolding of their spiritual lives and have watched inwonder at how God, in slow motion, works so reverently in theirlives. Finally, I have been reintroduced to Saint Teresa of Avila anddiscovered in her writings and life the vast horizons of deep inti-macy with Jesus that she offers contemplative pray-ers.

It goes without saying that each of these edges of growth isreflected in this revised edition of Beginning Contemplative Prayer.Three new chapters have been added, and the emphasis through-out has been deepened and shifted from the surface toward thecore. New material has been worked into the text, including

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material on healing, reconciliation, experiencing the love of Godand our own loveableness, the prayer of Saint Teresa of Avila, theinflow of God and ways to remove blocks to God’s gift of him-self, as well as how to deal with the inner rumblings of emotions,thoughts, and hurts during prayer.

I’ve also added endnotes as springboards for further reflectionand resources for exploration in spirituality as you move frombeginning contemplative prayer to proficiency. At the end of thebook there is a five-week personal prayer guide and a guide forthose who wish to use Beginning Contemplative Prayer in a groupsetting.

I want to personally thank my community, not only forbringing this book back into print, but most especially forteaching me how to pray, for communicating to me a rhythm ofprayer and a desire for seeing the face of God in the face of mybrothers and sisters and communicating to them the absolutecertainty of his love. In particular, I want to thank SisterGermana Santos, FSP; Sister Thomas Halpin, FSP; and SisterVirginia Helen Richards, FSP. I owe a great debt of gratitude tothose who have let me walk beside them for a bit of their jour-ney, for they have been my best teachers. I am grateful also tothose who have commented on the manuscript and offeredvaluable insight, in particular Mary Kay Denman and membersof the adult spiritual formation program of her parish that metin the fall of 2008.Working with Sister Mary Lea Hill, FSP, fromthe editorial department, has been a grace for me as I incorpo-rated her insights and with her help gave final form to thesepages. And finally, and perhaps most importantly, I owe my lovefor prayer to my parents, who taught me how to pray when Iwas a child and who fostered my love for God and my religiousvocation.

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Introduction

As Catholics, we have a long-kept secret that many yearn toknow. This secret is the depth and richness of our spirituality.Our religious history is charged with mysticism and passion,marked by spiritual journeys and pilgrimages, ignited by worshipand prayer. Spirituality has to do with our deepest needs, anxi-eties, joys, hopes, and fears, our values and dreams. It is a part ofour daily life and propels us to rise above the daily grind. It fuelsour work, our relationships, our prayer, pushing us to live withgreater meaning and intensity. Spirituality takes us as we are andconnects us to God as God is. Many Catholics, thirsting for anauthentic experience of God and deeper meaning in life, areunaware of this mystical tradition. Often those who minister inthe Church are themselves too busy to support others in theirsearch for spiritual direction. Great numbers of individuals lookEast1 for healing and spirituality, hoping for a deeper religiousexperience, inner peace, and a sense of personal well-being, butthat seeking betrays hearts that long for more.

The world in which we live is full of images and speed, oftechnology and hurry, of noise and exhaustion. We are saturatedwith the endless relationships maintained through e-mail, instantmessaging, social networking, text messaging. Intimacy is a click

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away in a virtual world. Information is at our fingertips. E-mailsdemand immediate responses. We download our music and up-load personal videos. We join social networks online and do ourbanking from the comfort of our living room.The extra time wehave is crowded with the growing number of pressing things thatclamor for our attention. Information about more possibilitiescreates more potential things to do. Almost half of all adults feelthey have too much to do.

The world of images stimulates and numbs us. We find ourthoughts and desires shaped by what we’ve seen and heard, ratherthan from deep within ourselves. We feel poor. We fear beingshallow.We worry whether or not our life has meaning.Yet noth-ing seems to stifle the urgent thirst of the spirit! Somehow wehave a vague memory that Love lies at the bottom of our hearts,though we’ve lost the road to get there. We crave the silence andsolitude that would return us to ourselves. We long to know thatGod cares about us, that we are not left alone, that there is sensein the mystery and safety in embarking on this divine journey.

Finding the Path

One woman in the Bible found the path to the sacred in themidst of an everyday visit to a well.There she met someone whotold her everything she had ever done, yet loved her just thesame. She was one of the hated Samaritans; he was the Messiah.She had her place, her image, her label, and her guilt. He arousedher desires and transformed her dreams.

The story of the Samaritan woman (see Jn 4:7–15) is a per-fect introduction to a book on contemplation. In this woman’sexperience the rhythm of contemplation unfolds: encounter,engagement, commitment, and perseverance.

The woman in the Gospel story introduces her fellow towns-people to this man, saying: “He told me all I ever did.” They

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come and listen to what Jesus has to say: some out of curiosity,others with a secret hope, others just to make sure they aren’tmissing out on something. They are won over by Jesus’ wordsand love. They tell the Samaritan woman they no longer need torely on her word about the Teacher; they have met Jesus. Theintroduction has led them to engagement, then to commitment:they believe in the Messiah and their lives are changed.

Almost everyone has had some sort of transcendent experi-ence. The Lord has met us at the wells of our everyday lives.Sometimes we have even listened to him and recognized thatloving him will entail commitment. Maybe we have embracedthat commitment.

How? What? When? Where? Why?

This book is meant to take you from wherever you are andshow you what God desires you to be. Contemplation is a bigword for an even bigger task: transformation. The mystics wouldhave us understand human life as process, an ever-deepeningawareness of our personhood until we discover ourselves woveninto the body of Christ within the fabric of the Christian com-munity. Contemplative resting in prayer gives us the time andspace to see God’s way of being. In contemplation we engagethat way of being. Gradually we incarnate God’s way of being inour daily living.

The desire to grow as a Christian is enough. Then, simply andserenely, we put into place contemplative practices. Let God dothe rest.You will be surprised by this divine Lover.

I want to offer a few words of advice I have found useful:Read the material as it is presented. Even if you are someone—

as I am—who skips around through books, come back at somepoint and read it through in order. Why? Because the chapters,though they address specific concrete issues regarding the spiri-

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tual life and prayer, also lay out the classical progress of a soul inits growth in holiness and union with God.

Try things on for size. There are a lot of prayer exercisesthroughout the book. Give them a try . . . not a curious try, buta serious try. Mark with a pencil those that are more meaningfulor bring greater peace, and come back to them. More recom-mendations in this regard are offered throughout the book.

Journal. We keep scrapbooks, photo albums, and hundreds ofpictures on digital cameras and cell phones. This is an excellentpractice to carry over to your life in Christ. Take “snapshots” ofthe moments when God comes to you in particularly powerfulways. These remembrances can be in words or images or art.When you start a time of prayer, a useful practice is to return toone of these moments and relive it, for you’ll find it will stillnourish you even years later.

Practice. Practice. Practice. You will learn to pray or grow inprayer not by reading about it, but by praying. It is a time-testedascetic truth: we learn to pray by praying. After you’ve workedthrough the book, Appendix A offers a guide to developing apersonal prayer plan to grow in a contemplative spirit.

Share your faith. As Christians we live in community. Find anindividual or a group with whom to share your path to a morecontemplative prayer. Work through the book with others orshare your personal work with a spiritual director.

Don’t stop. Keep going. The endnotes offer questions for con-sideration, stories, or comments that are directly related to thedevelopment of the topic.They also offer additional resources onthe topic being discussed, a type of annotated bibliography.Beginning Contemplative Prayer is meant to be a diving board. Inthe sea of contemplative spirituality there are masters able to leadyou on the road to God, a road that will become more certain toyou through these pages.

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Part I

ENCOUNTER:THE RHYTHM BEGINS

“Where, how, and toward what goal does this humanitywalk which constantly renews itself on the face of the earth?”

BLESSED JAMES ALBERIONE2

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She couldn’t slow down enough to think. Even when she vis-ited the eucharistic adoration chapel at the church, her PDA

was in her hands, ensuring she was making the best use of hertime. She had come for an hour, but after thirty-five minutes shecouldn’t keep herself there. She knew God would understand...

And I’m sure he did. But she was shortchanging herself.There was a time not too long ago when people lived by the

rhythms of nature. These seemingly endless, fairly predictablecosmic rhythms corresponded integrally to our own rhythms ofbirth and death, of joy and sorrow, of healing and pain. Our fore-fathers were up at dawn and finished work by dusk. The longhours of the evening were spent narrating stories and recountingfamily histories. The ancient rhythms of nature determined therhythm of life.

Today we have become people who respond instead to therhythms created by electronic technology. The daily commutefor some starts well before dawn and finishes long after dusk.Electricity means we can keep working until . . . well, until wedrop into bed or nod off to sleep, whichever comes first. We lis-ten to music and podcasts on MP3 players, and our minds rarelyhave the luxury of white space. We post on virtual walls, share pic-tures, update blogs, and engage in any number of other socialnetworking activities that let others know our thoughts or feel-ings or the events in our lives. Cell phones mean friends and colleagues are a call away, anywhere, anytime. Instant communi-cation means we can constantly be in motion, scheduling, plan-ning, changing plans. Work can be carried on 24/7 from anylocation. Walk down the street or sit in the airport, and you’ll

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find almost everyone is talking to someone. As we become unac-customed to silence, remembering and observing, these newrhythms carry us along.

And so, Christians today have a unique challenge to create aharmony between their personal rhythm of encounter with Godand today’s communication expectations. Contemplative livingneeds to happen in the here and now of our existence, not in theworld as it existed fifty years ago, or twenty, or even at the turnof the twenty-first century. Contemplation is the great secret forunderstanding the heart of communication, for plumbing thedepths of intimacy, for discovering how to be in communionwith one another and with God.3

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CHAPTER 1

Cultivate Stillness and Silence

[God] said,“Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD,for the LORD is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind,so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks inpieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; andafter the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earth-quake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not inthe fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijahheard it, he wrapped his face in the mantle and went out andstood at the entrance of the cave. (1 Kings 19:11–13)

Have you tried to converse with someone in a room full ofdistractions? A DVD is playing; another member of the family ispracticing a musical instrument or playing a computer game ortalking on a cell phone; the drone of a lawn mower outside is eat-ing up the silence. The noisy distractions make meaningful con-versation impossible.

Some never experience the peace of contemplation becausethey try to pray in just this type of situation. Perhaps not literal-ly—most people realize that it is difficult to hear God’s whisperover a blaring television program.... Our noise is often, instead,on the inside. Our minds grind in an endless conversation—com-menting, regretting, expecting, planning, worrying, resenting.

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Because of these distractions, our encounters with God remainshallow and tentative. Some of the early Desert Fathers called thisthe ceaseless murmuring of our minds. An early abba, or desertfather, likened the mind to a tree full of chattering monkeys.4

Preparing to Pray

Through a rhythm of quieting and stilling, of systematic pre-paration for prayer, we can attune ourselves to the mystery with-in us. Contemplation begins precisely with the quieting of one’swhole lifestyle and being. The following exercise may help youto cultivate this habit of inner stillness.

1. Prepare yourself. Sit, kneel, or lie for awhile in a quiet, com-fortable place. Perhaps you’ll choose a chair with a straight back;perhaps you’ll take a cup of tea out onto the back porch. Perhapsyou’ll create a sacred buffer by listening to quiet music on yourMP3 player in the muddle of an active office. Be comfortable. Bealone. Slow down.

2. Be aware. Notice what is around you. Observe how you arefeeling. Systematically focus your attention on each part of yourbody: shoulders, neck, arms, hands, stomach, feet.... Tell each partof your body to relax.

3. Breathe. Take four deep breaths. This practice can help youdistance yourself from the haste, efficiency, and confusion of theoffice, the traffic, or the endless trips chauffeuring kids to after-school activities.

The Gift of Quietness

It may be difficult for you to imagine spending more than afew moments of silence in your busy day. (It can be a struggleeven for a nun in a monastery!) The human spirit, however,hungers for the kind of peace found along the ancient way ofcontemplation.Without this deep connection with reality we die.

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Cultivate Stillness and Silence 11

Some people rise just a bit earlier in the morning to stake theirclaim for peace while the world is still asleep. I know one womanwho keeps her rosary and prayer books next to her favorite easychair, her sanctuary in which she finds the Lord each day. If takingadvantage of the morning quiet is not an option for you, findanother time that might work. Take a daily walk with the Lord.Steal away for a few moments at lunchtime or take out a bookduring a morning coffee break to reconnect with God. That’s allit takes.You don’t need many prayers or much time to strike up aheart-to-heart conversation with God. Talk familiarly to Jesusduring a long commute. Let each phone call be a reminder toentrust yourself to God’s presence. Try lingering a few momentsin the evening, after the rest of the house is hushed.

Giving ourselves these silent moments is crucial to the well-being of our souls. These daily mini-retreats free us from the falseillusion that we have made ourselves, that we can accomplishanything alone. They daily remind us that we are loved and areutterly dependent on our Creator.

These times of resting restore within us the rhythm God builtinto our universe from the beginning. The great poets and mys-tics believed that if we had a true spirit of leisure we would seethe grass grow, and touching the ground we would feel the beat-ing of the heart of God. As our spirits cry out to God in ourmoments of sacred rest; ours is the promise of peace-filled living,even amid daily annoyances.

Beginning Today...

1. Schedule time to relax. Make a weekly appointment in yourcalendar for a true leisure break. During this time, plan at leastone thing you really like to do, something that relaxes you.

2. Take some time just to do nothing. Doing nothing is the art ofletting life reveal itself to you rather than scheduling every event.

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BEGINNING CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER12

3. Live in the present. Take several deep breaths and, forgettingabout the future and the past, look around you. Where is therebeauty? Where is there need? Let the gift of each moment sur-prise you with the little pleasures it brings.

Each of these moments of silent awareness that we lift up toGod in quiet contemplation gives us a fresh start.We seek to giveour full attention to each moment, not only to these moments ofsilence, but to each task, to each person we encounter. Awarenesscreates interior silence. When we gently yet firmly removeeverything but the now from our present moment, we begin tonotice what is around us and within us. We can care more, thinkmore, and live more.

Silence Leads to Intimacy

Silence is not a goal in and of itself. Silence is an interiorspace in which we discover that we are not alone, that we are inrelation to Another. Silence leads to worship. Worship is a pro-found word for me. It means submission and adoration. It meansthat I am not my own creator. It means everything is not, in thefinal sense, all about me. The word also signifies to me that I amin relationship: that I am cared for and that I belong; that in theend I don’t have to support myself entirely.

The Greek word for worship, proskyne, can mean, I come towardto kiss. When we pray, and precisely when we worship, we cometoward God to kiss and be kissed.When we dare to stop runningthrough the hoops of our hectic schedules, we discover an inti-macy beyond our imagining.

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