I started this morning. I commit to 20 minutes 2x a day during the entire season of Advent to sit in silence and prayer.
I have to laugh; in early America, prison reformers suggested that inmates spend time in their empty cell contemplating their sins. Some of the men went mad!
I might suggest that people sit and pray (or meditate) where t…
I started this morning. I commit to 20 minutes 2x a day during the entire season of Advent to sit in silence and prayer.
I have to laugh; in early America, prison reformers suggested that inmates spend time in their empty cell contemplating their sins. Some of the men went mad!
I might suggest that people sit and pray (or meditate) where they are most comfortable. Most monks either pray in the chapel or their stall, and they may continue to pray in their room with a cross and some books. I pray in my outdoor library (or cell) with icons. I don't read or listen to music. I have no electronics in the room (I wear an analog watch to keep time). Part of choosing a place with religious items or precious mementos is remind yourself of your past, your commitment to the beliefs of your faith and its traditions, and to facilitate worship of God's continual presence and love for you.
With friendship and thanks for your leadership here! --Diana
These are all helpful reminders. The setting itself can matter greatly in helping our silence to be fruitful. I am pretty bad at it myself. Yet when I have experienced prayer spaces/rooms that illustrate what you are saying, I know how powerful it can be.
I can see how unprepared prisoners forced into isolation to contemplate the sins might very well go mad. In the Cloud of Unknowing the author emphasizes more than once the need for confession before beginning contemplative prayer. Of course, not everyone is part of a tradition that has confession, but the principle remains. We meet ourselves in silence and stillness, and what bubbles up can be overwhelming if one isn't prepared.
Thank you for being the first one to take up The Pascal Challenge. You got the ball rolling.
I hope you have a blessed Advent and fruitful silence! -Jack
I started this morning. I commit to 20 minutes 2x a day during the entire season of Advent to sit in silence and prayer.
I have to laugh; in early America, prison reformers suggested that inmates spend time in their empty cell contemplating their sins. Some of the men went mad!
I might suggest that people sit and pray (or meditate) where they are most comfortable. Most monks either pray in the chapel or their stall, and they may continue to pray in their room with a cross and some books. I pray in my outdoor library (or cell) with icons. I don't read or listen to music. I have no electronics in the room (I wear an analog watch to keep time). Part of choosing a place with religious items or precious mementos is remind yourself of your past, your commitment to the beliefs of your faith and its traditions, and to facilitate worship of God's continual presence and love for you.
With friendship and thanks for your leadership here! --Diana
Diana-
These are all helpful reminders. The setting itself can matter greatly in helping our silence to be fruitful. I am pretty bad at it myself. Yet when I have experienced prayer spaces/rooms that illustrate what you are saying, I know how powerful it can be.
I can see how unprepared prisoners forced into isolation to contemplate the sins might very well go mad. In the Cloud of Unknowing the author emphasizes more than once the need for confession before beginning contemplative prayer. Of course, not everyone is part of a tradition that has confession, but the principle remains. We meet ourselves in silence and stillness, and what bubbles up can be overwhelming if one isn't prepared.
Thank you for being the first one to take up The Pascal Challenge. You got the ball rolling.
I hope you have a blessed Advent and fruitful silence! -Jack