Tag Archives: Christian Meditation
“A Hoary Head:” Navigating the Announcements at NRCC
When I was a kid, I got rewards for memorizing the ancient proverbs. Here’s one that is still stuck in my head… A hoary head is a crown of glory, if it is found on a man or woman who … Continue reading
Posted in Individual Lesson
Tagged ancient spiritual paths, Christian Meditation, community, contemplation, learning, Scripture, service, spiritual community, spiritual disciplines
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Can Quantum Christians Still Pray?
When our images of God go through an expanding metamorphosis, the kind or praying we used to do when we still had only one image gets challenged. For many of us, the only image of God we had was ‘Our Father Who art in heaven.” When this becomes one way of thinking about God among many, the way of praying many of us grew up with gets a bit uncomfortable… and is often abandoned.
So, can Quantum Christians still pray?
In this lesson, I’ll suggest we can. Continue reading
Posted in Oneness vs. Twoness
Tagged centering prayer, Christian Meditation, images of God, prayer
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Reconsidering Prayer (part 4)
Today, as we continue our lesson rethinking prayer, we come to the mindset necessary for this “seeking-Truth” way of praying.
Self-discipline is necessary to this new way, but that term falls on hard times for many Christians. We’ve tried and tried to be disciplined with our prayer practices, but they returned so little to our souls.
This lesson talks about applying discipline in such a way that it returns an elevated understanding of Truth, awakens us to the Divine Presence that is always in and around us, and answers to the yearning to see the Divine in our daily lives.
Abhishiktananda, a French Benedictine monk who lived in India, said it this way…
Truly there is nothing in the created universe, in all time and space, which does not manifest God and reveal his glory to mankind. In creating us God made us us able to recognize his manifestation in the world and in events, so that we might respond to it in love. Continue reading
Meditation: Four Practical Steps
Centering Prayer is an updated form of the ancient meditative practice, lectio divina. Because many Christians are frightened by anything Eastern, in this lesson we put those fears to rest, talking about what meditation is, and then four practical steps for practicing it. Continue reading
Posted in Christian Meditation
Tagged cataphatic/apophatic, centering prayer, Christian Meditation
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Why We Train Our Souls
We’ve been talking about a series of soul-training practices all Fall. In this lesson we pause from these content-dense lessons, to reflect on why we want to train our souls in the first place. I determined to teach this lesson to myself as I focus my soul this Advent, and decided to let everyone else listen in. Continue reading
Soul-Training: The Welcoming Prayer
In this lesson we look at a very practical way to turn our prayer less into words, and more into awakening to the awareness of what God is already up to. It’s a contemplative practice for daily use called The Welcoming Prayer. Continue reading
Introducing Meditation (part 3)
In 2009, NRCC is embarking on a one-year experiment in integrating the ancient Christian contemplative practices into our lives. This “Meditation Practicum” will be three 11-week sessions of learning, practicing, and supporting one another. Today’s message gives some more practicum to our experiment. It’s worth a listen even if you’re not at NRCC. Continue reading
Posted in Christian Meditation
Tagged 3 levels of consciousness, cataphatic/apophatic, centering prayer, Christian Meditation, Meditation Practicum, prayer
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Introducing Meditation (part 2)
In 2009, NRCC is embarking on a one-year experiment in integrating the ancient Christian contemplative practices into our lives. This “Meditation Practicum” will be three 11-week sessions of learning, practicing, and supporting one another. Today’s message gives some introductory practicum to our experiment. It’s worth a listen even if you’re not at NRCC. Continue reading
Posted in Christian Meditation
Tagged 3 levels of consciousness, cataphatic/apophatic, Christian Meditation, Church history, human nature, lectio divina, Meditation Practicum, prayer, spiritual wellness, true/false self
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Introducing Meditation (part 1)
In 2009, NRCC is embarking on a one-year experiment in integrating the ancient Christian contemplative practices into our lives. This “Meditation Practicum” will be three 11-week sessions of learning, practicing, and supporting one another. Today’s message gives some context to our experiment. It’s worth a listen even if you’re not at NRCC. Continue reading
Posted in Christian Meditation
Tagged 3 levels of consciousness, cataphatic/apophatic, Christian Meditation, Church history, lectio divina, Meditation Practicum, prayer, spiritual wellness
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Words Kill – Words Give Life. You Decide.
by Doug Hammack Add synopsis [Download MP3]
Posted in Power of Words
Tagged blessing/cursing, Christian Meditation, healing, hope, power, words
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