#centering prayer

29, gay man, christian mystic

Oh, to be alone with Him

(via dvojnavjera-djevojka)

"May we all grow in grace and peace, and not neglect the silence that is printed in the center of our being, It will not fail us."

How are We Saved: Is it Simply by Belief Alone, or Do We Have to Go Out of Ourselves Ecstatically in Order to Make that Happen?

By Author Eli Kittim

What does the Bible say about salvation?

Romans 8.14 implies that if you’re not “led by the Spirit” you’re NOT a child of God. The phrase “led by the Spirit” implies an actual “existential experience” (cf. Mt. 4.1), not mere belief (i.e. an idea presumed, but not known):

“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God” (Rom. 8.14).

Romans 8.9 makes it absolutely clear that without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit we are not saved: https://biblehub.com/romans/8-9.htm

Jesus also makes it very clear in John 3.3 that you can not even see the kingdom of God, let alone be possessed by it, unless you are born again: https://biblehub.com/john/3-3.htm

That’s precisely why the Epistle to the Ephesians instructs us to put away the “old self” and to put on a new identity, namely, “the new self,” which is made in the image of God:

“You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (4.22-24 NRSV).

And, of course, we must “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 3.18) and truly believe “that Jesus is Lord” (Rom. 10.9), especially in the midst of this existential crisis!

All these verses seem to indicate that the requirements for salvation involve considerable risk. Therefore, we must undergo some kind of personal existential experience (or a Dark night of the soul) in order for a transformation to take place. It is only in the midst of this mysterium tremendum, or existential dread, that salvation can take place. Thus, Philippians 2.12 poignantly says, “So work with fear and trembling to discover what it really means to be saved” (CEV): https://biblehub.com/philippians/2-12.htm

Ezekiel 36.26 drives home this spiritual idea of death and resurrection: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you” (cf. John 12.24)!

We must first die to our ego before we can reach out to God in faith

The language of the New Testament thus implies that we have to go out of ourselves in order to find God, as Thomas Merton used to say. For example, 2 Corinthians 5.13 suggests that Paul (and by implication each and every apostle) had lost his identity to gain Christ’s (cf. Gal. 2.20):

εἴτε γὰρ ἐξέστημεν, θεῷ ·

Translation: “If we are out of our mind, it is for God” (BSB): https://biblehub.com/2_corinthians/5-13.htm

So the question arises: Why is a Mad-Mind mentioned in 2 Corinthians 5.13, and what exactly is Paul trying to teach us about the process or the goal of Salvation? (cf. Acts 26.24).

Astoundingly, we find the exact same theme reiterated in Mark 3.21 where Jesus himself is said to be “out of his mind” (which may be an allusion to the biblical narrative known as the Temptation of Christ in which after being baptized Jesus was led by the Spirit into the Judaean Desert to be tempted by Satan): https://biblehub.com/mark/3-21.htm

The soteriological point of that existential experience is that Jesus must lose his identity so as to enter into the divine union with God (cf. Psalm 78.65). I’m by no means suggesting “Adoptionism,” the notion that Jesus was adopted as the Son of God at his baptism. No! Not at all. All I’m saying is that Jesus becomes one of us by taking on human nature (and all the suffering that it entails) so that he, too, like us, is confined to the same spiritual process and requirement of transcending the “self.” As Søren Kierkegaard once wrote, “to have faith is precisely to lose one’s mind so as to win God” (The Sickness Unto Death: A Christian Psychological Exposition for Upbuilding and Awakening)!

Similarly, John of the Cross, the celebrated 16th century mystic, says that during “the night of sense” a spirit of dizziness overtakes the spiritual faculties of an individual. This energy overwhelms the mind and causes it to lose its identity. That’s probably what Isaiah 19.14 is all about: https://biblehub.com/isaiah/19-14.htm

Do you recall Acts 2.15 in which Peter had to explain to the crowd that “Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, “ but rather filled with the Holy Spirit?

A contemplative exegesis of Psalm 107.27-30 suggests this mystical journey through the Dark night of the soul:

“they reeled and staggered like drunkards, and were at their wits' end. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out from their distress; he made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad because they had quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven.”

This is reminiscent of the path of the mania of love (or the madness sent from the gods) by which we arrive at divine knowledge, as exemplified in Plato’s works: Phaedrus and Symposium. Evagrios the Solitary (aka Evagrios Pontikos), a mystical monk from Pontus (ca. 345-399 ce), says something similar about the prayer of stillness, “which by virtue of the most intense love transports to the noetic realm the intellect that longs for wisdom” (The Philokalia: The Complete Text; Compiled by St. Nikodimos of the Holy Mountain and St. Makarios of Corinth. Trans. G.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard and Kallistos Ware. Vol. 1. [London: Faber, 1983], p. 62).

The Beatitudes must be understood in the same exact context. They’re not a political manifesto that calls for social reform, nor are they about the materially poor or the physically hungry. Matthew 5.3 reads: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Notice that Matthew doesn’t say that they are poor in the sense that they lack sufficient money, but rather that they’re “poor in spirit,” as are those who enter the dark night of the soul! Similarly, the text unambiguously says: “those who hunger and thirst for righteousness” (Mt. 5.6), not for food and drink! It would appear then that the Beatitudes are a guide to inner transformation or regeneration, what it means to be “born from above” (3.3) in the Johannine gospel. Only those who are poor in spirit (not in money), who have emptied themselves and have become as nothing can be blessed, meek, righteous, merciful, pure in heart, peaceful, and loving! Why? Because only those can be “born from above” and “be called children of God” (Mt. 5.9) and receive “the kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 5.10). Only those are worthy of salvation! No one else. That’s the point!

How then is the Dark night of the soul (which makes us poor in spirit) depicted in Scripture?

One illustration might come from Isaiah 6.5:

“Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

Elsewhere, Isaiah 50.10 reads:

“Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the voice of his servant, who walks in darkness and has no light, yet trusts in the name of the Lord and relies upon his God?”

It’s quite clear from Exodus 20.21 that we can only approach God in darkness:

“Then the people stood at a distance, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.”

So if this is in fact the cost of salvation, how do we obtain it?

Well, first we have to “estimate the cost”:

“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won't you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?” (Lk. 14.28).

If you reply to this question in the affirmative, then the next question is a practical one, namely, how do we proceed?

Answer: Not through discursive thinking but rather through meditation. That’s because God can only be found in silence. Thought is a distraction. One form of Western contemplation that goes back to the desert fathers of Egypt is what is known as Centering Prayer. This is a popular Christian meditation that places a strong emphasis on interior silence. In a very advanced stage it leads to inner transformation and union with Christ! In other words, it leads to authentic salvation! And the litmus test of that experience is that you fall madly in love with Jesus Christ!

Allegorically speaking, Matthew 6.6 alludes to this prayer of stillness when it says:

“But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

The Hebrew Bible also says: “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46.10; 62.5)!

Conclusion

Centering Prayer is a practice of hope.  As we quietly pray, we practice saying “yes” to God’s invitation, giving Him our attention above all else – in all else.  Centering ourselves in God’s presence we may not realize that we make a statement.  That action is a statement of hope. We are declaring, “I trust You more than anyone or anything else! My hope is in You!”  No matter what life may look like – we keep returning to the One who says, “I’m here.  I’ve always been here.  I’ve got you!” 

It’s can be hard at times.  The world may seem as if it is out of control.  Circumstances may feel crazy – even threatening.  But, as we pray, little by little, we learn we are most secure centered on the One who is always present.  We find Him in everything.  His presence shapes our view of Reality.  He is present.  That's our constant.  He is trustworthy.  In this we find hope.

Please read the words below from Eugene Peterson about hope, and then take a moment to experience a musical moment of worship from Vertical Church in Chicago, IL.        

Hoping does not mean doing nothing. It is not fatalistic resignation. 

It means going about our assigned tasks, confident that God will provide the meaning and the conclusions.

It is not compelled to work away at keeping up appearances with a bogus spirituality.

It is the opposite of desperate and panicky manipulations, of scurrying and worrying.

And hoping is not dreaming. It is not spinning an illusion or fantasy to protect us from our boredom or our pain.

It means a confident, alert expectation that God will do what he said he will do.

It is imagination put in the harness of faith. It is a willingness to let God do it his way and in his time.

It is the opposite of making plans that we demand that God put into effect, telling him both how and when to do it.

That is not hoping in God but bullying God.

I pray to GOD -- my life a prayer -- and wait for what he'll say and do. My life's on the line before God, my Lord, waiting and watching till morning, waiting and watching till morning. [1]

[1] E. H. Peterson. (1980). A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society, p. 132.