Paradigms of prayer--wait

"Wait on the Lord, be of good courage and He shall stengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord". "Truly my soul waits silently for God...wait silently O my soul, for God alone." "I waited patiently for the Lord, and He heard my cry."

There is a passive sense to waiting. Like waiting on a bus, or waiting on a delivery, we wait on the Lord. We wait for His second coming and triumphant return. We wait for His kingdom to come. We wait for healing, for answer to prayer, for whatever He would bring to us. And we wait each week for His coming in the blessed sacrament of the Eucharist. "When wilt Thou come to me O Lord?". He comes to us as often as we partake of His body and blood.

There is an active sense to waiting. Like waiting on tables, or serving customers, we wait or serve Christ. Patiently as He gives us direction, we go at the bidding of His word. We seek what He desires, and work for what He commands.

In both senses of waiting, there can be repetition. Not vain repetition, but a discipline of repeating and practicing the action of waiting. The contemplative practice I relate to this prayer of waiting is the repetition of the name of Jesus. We are called to "pray without ceasing" and "devote yourselves to prayer." "And I will do whatever you ask for in my name." Throughout the history of the church, there is one prayer that stands out as an anchor of faith, a beacon of hope for the lost. "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner." The repetition of the Jesus prayer can be that anchor to our contemplative lives. As we seek to constantly, or consistently, remember the name of Jesus in this prayer, we acquire inner peace that brings salvation to many.

Shelter in the wildnerness

There's a phrase from Psalm 55, which we read in 6th hour, that I love. It is something to the effect of "Oh that I had wings like a dove, I would fly away and be at rest, I would hasten to find a shelter in the wildnerness." Everyone needs a shelter in the wilderness, a place to hide and find rest. Okay, not the "happy place" of Happy Gilmour. But your own personal retreat center, a place to pray, find quiet and solitude, and regroup before battling life again.

When we moved to Indiana over a year ago, we bought a house sitting on an acre of woods. The back half of that was overgrown with tall brush and a was a veritable enchanted forest of Yoda. I've spent quite some time clearing out the underbrush and making my very own meditative woods. The kids started putting in a trail, which I've completed and turned into a mini-labyrinth. The new growth has sprung up, creating a nice contrast to the tall, thick trees. The labyrinth ends in a little space with a buckeye tree, and now a statue of Mary. (Okay for you fundamental Orthodox sticklers, I know 3D religious imagery is not allowed. This is, ahhmm, a garden decoration, not an icon).

I've added 4 icons in icon boxes in a few spots on the trail/labyrinth. And finally, a couple benches, one in the woods and 2 in the grassy area before the woods. Okay, it's not Mount Athos. But it is a really cool place to hang out, pray, and meditate. Just watch out for the raccoons, squirrels, bats, or deer roaming around the place.

Paradigms of prayer--Seek

How does one learn to pray? How does one describe or teach someone how to pray? It is like teaching someone how to love, what to say, subtle intangibles that communicate love to another person. Just as love can't really be taught, so prayer must be learned naturally to a degree, by sensing and following our spirit being led by God's Spirit.

Rather than learning prayer in a how to method, I have been meditating on words that leave an impression of what my prayer is. Each of these words corresponds to a contemplative practice I have developed over time. Each of these leads to a different aspect of my prayer life.

"Seek", or the prayer of seeking is the first that comes to mind. We are challenged to "seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness", also to "seek peace and pursue it". This is a prayer of movement, of going from one place to another. It has a destination, although the destination is not always known. The destination is not really the goal, it is in the journey that we find peace and the Kingdom of God. The real destination is union with God.

The practice of this prayer is when I walk silently in my neighborhood. It is when I hike through the woods and hills and find the beauty of God. It is when I journey in a labyrinth. It is when I run a marathon. It is when my body is moving, my heart is beating faster, my breathing is full, and my mind goes with my soul and body seeking what is to come. Like the labyrinth, or a marathon route, or a trail in the woods I have never taken, my heart follows my footsteps to see where God will lead. And as I seek, I find. I find God's love, His presence, His beauty, His kingdom.

Welcome

As Orthodox Christians, we seek to acquire inner peace and the Holy Spirit through the rule of a contemplative lifestlye based on Holy Scripture and the traditon of our Holy Ancestors. We acknowledge that prayer is both a means and an end: a means in that prayer transforms us and prepares us for a life of service to our fellow humankind, and an end in that union with God is the deepest need of the human condition.

We acquire this inner peace by seeking to dwell in the presence of Christ always, or rather to make ourselves aware of the presence of God and His kingdom as constantly or consistently as our lifestyle allows. We rest in this presence of God through liturgical prayer, both corporate and personal, through the recitation of the name of Jesus, and through contemplation and meditation. We confess our calling is no higher than any other since we are in as dire need of God's grace as the worst sinner. Our calling and gift is simply to bring the world to the Kingdom of God and bring the Kingdom of God to the world through prayer and a life of peace.