A Place to Simply Be

 

Meditation is a spiritual practice.  It also takes lots of practice.  I met with a woman at the diaconal retreat who is part of The World Community for Christian Meditation (http://www.wccm-canada.ca/).  She initially talked with me about meditation with children and how some of the separate school boards have brought this into their curriculum.  I was fascinated by this concept.

In the past three weeks, I have been on two retreats.  I experienced a weekend silent retreat at Five Oaks Retreat Centre in Paris, ON, and a 48-hour retreat with diaconal sisters and brothers from the United, Lutheran, and Anglican churches at the Sisterhood of St. John the Divine in Toronto.  

At these retreats I experienced quiet, creation, play, and prayer.  I have discovered (again) that it is a blessing just to simply be.  When I am not thinking about regrets from the past or feeling anxiety over the future, I can experience a kind of freedom, a freedom that allows for the Spirit to enter.

So, I am left with the question, “How do I continue this practice in my daily life?”

She also led a workshop on meditation where I sat for 15 minutes in silence.  The encouragement was to just be, to try to still my body and my mind, and to invite the Spirit to come.  I have also tried this practice the past two mornings.  I am very still.  You would think by looking at me, that I am deep in meditation.  Unfortunately, it is just by body that is still.  My mind is anything but!  A friend of mine call is “monkey brain.”  It just won’t stop thinking.  

I found a quote by Hugh Jackman on meditation. "Meditation is all about the pursuit of nothingness.  It's like the ultimate rest.  It's better than the best sleep you'ver ever had.  It's a quieting of the mind.  It sharpens everything, especially you appreciation of your surroundings.  It keeps life fresh."  This is where I would like to be.  In fact, I would go a step further from nothingness, to experiencing the divine.  Unfortunately, I relate more to a statement by Ellen DeGeneres.  "I'd like to be more patient!  I just want everything now.  I've tried to meditate, but it's really hard for me to stay still. I'd like to force myself to do it, because everybody says how wonderful meditation is for you, but I can't shut my mind up.  So patience and learning is key.  I wonder if Ellen ever go there..

I will keep trying.  It takes practice.  15 minutes is a good start and I am hoping, even for a few minutes, to still my mind in that time.  There are community meditation groups that I could explore or maybe I could start one at St. Paul’s, the church I serve.  Maybe others are looking for a space like this, where they can put aside thoughts and just be with God.  

And just so you don't think I only quote celebrities, here is one more quote:  "Meditation is not a way of making your mind quiet.  It's a way of entering into the quiet that's already there - buried under the 50,000 thoughts the average person thinks every day - Deepak Chopra, Indian-American Spiritualist.

I hope to find this quiet place; I hope that it will become a familiar place, a place where I can find quiet, invite the Spirit, and to simply be.