Meditation Group: The Beginning
My interest in meditation was piqued a few years ago when a friend in Spokane shared about the Meditation Weekends she and her husband hosted in their home, so I searched Google on How to Meditate and landed on YouTube videos of Fr. Thomas Keating explaining what meditation is and how to practice it. I sat in silence for five minutes the first day and gradually increased my daily meditation to 20 minutes. I read books, watched videos, and learned ways to let go of the multitude of thoughts emanating from my mind while trying to be quiet in God’s presence
Namaste: the light in me honors the light in you
Meditation became an important part of my daily routine, as I found a peace and joy in connecting with God and slowly learned to accept Her unconditional love for me. I struggled with consenting to be in Her presence when I had been angry and judgmental. Slowly I let go of the struggle in realizing I can come into Her presence because of her love for me and not because I am worthy by own actions.
After a time of meditating on my own, I asked my priest, Shelley Denney, about meditation, and she became my mentor as she shared about her regular meditation practice. I longed for a group of people to meditate with, so I offered a weekly meditation time in our sanctuary. A small group of us met until the Covid’s stay-in-place order closed the church and required us to stay home. I was very disappointed that I could not meditate with others, but I discovered Zoom and our group grew to included people from several different churches as well as friends in Boulder and Detroit.
We meet every Wednesday on Zoom at 10:00 am for a time of being quiet together in God’s presence, using the Centering Prayer method. After greeting one another for a few minutes, I share a prayer, or we say the Lord’s prayer together, as we prepare ourselves to experience God in the language of silence. After 20 minutes of silence, I share another prayer and remind us to allow God’s love to flow through us today in the ordinary events of our lives. We leave Zoom by saying namaste (the light in me honors the light in you) to one another.
Our meditation group is open to people of all faiths or of no faith. If you are interested in attending or in finding out more about meditation, email Ruthanne at office@jointventurechurches.org .
Some of the resources I found useful:
1. I use the Centering Prayer method for our meditation time. It is just one of many ways to meditate.
2. You Tube has many videos on centering prayer and meditation by Thomas Keating.
The Method of Centering Prayer - Part 1, with Thomas Keating
The Method of Centering Prayer - Part 2 with Thomas Keating.
3. Books:
a. Open Mind, Open Heart by Thomas Keating
b. Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening, by Cynthia Bourgeault