Lent is a time to slow down and pay attention to God. Paying attention to God is what prayer is all about.
The Trappist Monks (Thomas Merton was a Trappist) have resurrected a form of prayer based on the spiritual classic, the Cloud of Unknowing. Called centering prayer, you sit in silence for 20 minutes, once or twice a day. You just concentrate on being present to God, and emptying your mind of all the images, thoughts, worries, daydreams, etc. that are always running through our heads. To focus, you use a prayer word or phrase, like “Love” or “Peace” or “Jesus, son of the living God, have mercy on me.”
Some people have reported amazing transformation as a result of regularly practicing this kind of prayer. Give it a try. But know prayer, spiritual exercise, is like physical exercise. If you go to the gym three times a week, once a year, don’t expect to get into great shape. Praying regularly, like physically exercising faithfully, will show results in a few weeks.
There’s three weeks left in Lent!
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