by Virginia Vollmer, OFS
The first morning retreat presented by the Spiritual Guide ministry took place Saturday January 24th. As participants gathered in the church hall, they found a light breakfast waiting for them and soft instrumental music playing in the background. Tables were decorated with flowers, mints, stone hearts, and art supplies. What will this Morning of Prayer be like?
Prayer is how we encounter God. It is how we build and maintain our relationship with God. Hence, prayer is not a one-way conversation. So, while speaking to God through prayer, we also pause and listen for God. How do we do that?
Just as each of us is a unique human being, we have our own unique relationship with God. God wants to hear from us in our own unique way of praying. This was the theme for the Morning of Prayer- what unique and different ways can we pray?
Gladyce Janky, one of the spiritual guides, began with a few minutes of Centering Prayer. It is a silent prayer form. Its goal is to create direct contact with God and is a quiet time to be in the presence of God.
What are the different ways we can have a daily encounter with God? Some examples were shared by Gladyce and Beth Lema (another spiritual guide). Gladyce talked about watching a hummingbird hovering over a flower and matching the movement of it as the breeze moved the flower back and forth. Beth told of an encounter with God in an olive tree in Israel. A few of the participants also shared their stories of encountering God. We can find him in the store, in the backyard, in adoration chapel.
Beth then led the group in an encounter with God through art. This was experiential- creating prayer through drawing and color. The art supplies consisted of colored pencils and various gel pens and paper. Using the variety of pens and pencils they traced their hands and fingers on the paper. Then colored the drawn hand with names of the people who are important to us and to pray for them. It was a meditative practice for many. And can be done any time as we pray through our prayer lists.
After this prayer and before a break Father Williams spoke a few words of thanksgiving and gave us a blessing. How often do you bless your spouse, children, grandchildren, friends?
Many of us have heard of the Jesuit way of praying through the imagination. Not many have actually prayed in this way. Gladyce led us through exercises of imaginative prayer. We first place ourselves in the time and place of a Bible story. For example, in Martha and Mary’s home. What do we see? What is the weather like? Is a breeze blowing? Is it dusty (no paved roads)? What do we smell as Martha is cooking? Who is there? Do we hear animals? Placing ourselves there, how do we react when Martha confronts Jesus about Mary not helping out? Are we embarrassed, shocked, not at all surprised? Think about your reaction. After a few moments of sharing Gladyce moved to the next meditation- on the road to Jericho (Mark 10:46-51). After placing ourselves on the road with the disciples we see Jesus passing by the blind man. Jesus stops and asks, “What do you want me to do for you?” How would you respond to Jesus’ question? Think about it. Meditate upon it.
During this morning of prayer, we learned to listen for God in our daily encounters. We practiced Centering Prayer, praying with art, and meditated using our imaginations. Each season of the year and of life can bring forth a way of praying and listening to God that is uniquely ours.
