(Bryant Creek as it cuts through monastery property)
PRAYER AS A MEANS TO CULTIVATE INNER PEACE
This following reflection appears in a book called LIFE PRAYERS by Elizabeth Roberts & Elias Amidon published by HarperOne
Prayer has always been used as a means of cultivating inner peace. Without some measure of equanimity, the spiritual journey is impossible. Prayers offer a skillful means for marrying an inner sense of peace with the outer demands of the world. They help to quiet and focus the agitated mind. They use words to carry us beyond words. As such they are the most primordial language we humans use to align ourselves with the Divine. By silencing inner noise and distractions, prayer brings us into the presence of the moment. Its gift is an inner experience of prayerfulness in which the silent center of life's meaning is revealed.
Prayer also gifts us with a deepening of our compassionate caring for the world. By aligning us with the rest of creation, prayer shows us that the impulse to be of help does not require superior moral fiber or ascetic religious training. It flows naturally out of being human. In serving the common good, we learn that we need not become martyrs, sacrificing ourselves in some painful task, but simply become that which we most passionately are.
No comments:
Post a Comment