Chapter 8: Lighting the Lamps, The House with the Golden Window (3)

With this posting I'm hoping to prepare us for a discussion on Centering Prayer, a way of praying which Leighton Ford has mentioned and commented on in The Attentive Life. Last night before going to bed I read "The Origins of Centering Prayer" in Thomas Keating's Intimacy with God: An Introduction to Centering Prayer and found this little factoid:

Fr. Basil gave the first retreat to a group of provincials, both men and women, of various religious congregations at a large retreat house in Connecticut. It was they who suggested the term Centering Prayer to describe the practice. The term may have come from their readings of Thomas Merton, who had used this term in his writings.

Inasmuch as I was priviledged to know Fr. Basil, the mention of his name brought back wonderful memories. Nine years ago, in August, 1999, driving from St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts, to where I was staying, Fr. Basil spent a day with me in quiet conversation. I remember especially that when he left, I asked him to bless me, and he put both of big hands on my head and blessed me, praying for what seemed like five minutes, asking God to strengthen me in my resolve to learn how to be with God intimately. As I listened to his blessing, I promised myself that I would begin to practice Centering Prayer, to learn how to to pray without images, without words, and without any preconceptions as to what to expect; all I would do is let God would know of my desire to enter fully into his Presence.

Fr. Basil Pennington died on June 3, 2005, at age 73, and each year on that day I remember him and give thanks to God for the privilege of knowing him a little bit. I've gotten to know him even better by reading nearly all that he has written; among them are these favorites:

• Centering Prayer: Renewing an Ancient Christian Prayer Form
• Centered Living: The Way of Centering Prayer
• True Self/False Self: Unmasking the Spirit Within
• On Retreat With Thomas Merton

Recently for a birthday gift, my children--Kirk, Lisa, Amy, and Chelsea--gave me a gift certificate for some purchases at http://www.amazon.com/, and I have chosen to buy a book about Fr. Basil that I've not read: As We Knew Him: Reflections on M. Basil Pennington. I'm really looking forward to its arrival in the mail. In the meantime, here's a word for you from Fr. Basil about Centering Prayer:

The word "contemplatio," contemplation, etymologically has three sections to it. "Tion" means abiding state. All of us have those, if we are alive, wonderful moments when suddenly God touches us, and we experience him and so on. What we are looking for is a way that will help us to begin to live more and more constantly in that wonderful communion with God. And that’s what "con" is about. Con means with. And "templa." Well, in the early Roman times the templa was a particular segment of the heavens, and the priests of the temple, the priests of the people, would try to revive that and try to see how the birds flew, and so on, and from that come to know the will of God, the presence of God. Now that time, that templa, got projected on earth and became the templum, the temple, a place we went to commune with God. So contemplation is abiding with God where His will is known, where His love is known, where He is present in His temple. [From A Centering Prayer Retreat with Fr. M. Basil Pennington]

Image information: I set the camera on a pile of books on a table, set the timer, pushed the button, and ran around to get close to Fr. Basil; then we both smiled and the camera took the picture.