Lori Sundberg Reflects on the
Ministry
of Centering Prayer
The experience I wish to share with you today is about hearing and
following a call. What I have felt called to do is to show up here every
week for an hour all year long, for 15 years, to make a space for myself and
others, within the church, to pray without words. Some weeks I show up
and no one else is there. It doesn’t matter. I still do this.
My path began in my 20s when I felt a call to silence. Meditation at
the time seemed exotic and outside religion. Then I shared an apartment
with a friend who is Quaker and I learned about the use of silence in a
Christian context. Continuing my slow path, now in my mid 30s, I found a
book that, for me, reconciled my need to recognize meditation as prayer.
I started practicing at home. I found an organization online and a mentor
locally. I got Ron Miller to come out and talk about meditation as
prayer. Then I asked permission to start a group at the church.
The word “inspiration” has a lot more energy and immediacy in it than what
I am describing. For me, there was a call. It was quiet but it did
not go away. There was a force like gravity that pulled lightly but
insistently. There was a path that evolved in front of me.
Centering prayer does not have outcomes you can point to — like feeding
the hungry or housing the homeless or evangelizing. The purpose of my
call is still somewhat mysterious to me. For years, I thought evidence of
the truth of my call would be in increasing attendance. Now, I am
somewhat satisfied that existence is value enough. We have a very active
church. The existence of a centering prayer group, and now a beautiful
spirituality room, is a counterweight to our need to always be busy and always
prove ourselves worthy through our works or our words.
If you want to be inspired, sometimes you need to listen with your
heart. Slow down enough to feel the gentle pull that is setting a
direction for you. Walk the path in front of you and trust you are in
God’s hands.
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