PRAYING TOGETHER IN SILENCE

Every Tuesday afternoon at 4 o’clock a diverse group of folks meet in the library at the Church of the Heavenly Rest in Abilene for a time of fellowship and shared contemplative prayer. This group has met in one form or another for close to 20 years, including by Zoom during the pandemic. It was started as a Centering Prayer group by the late Deacon Art Goolsbee in the early 2000s and has drawn people from several different denominations as well as some who are unchurched. The guiding principal has always been, “Come join us if you can and don’t worry if you can’t”.    

Presently the group is led by Sr. Brigit-Carol, SD (Sr. B) and Diane Rose. They have kept true to the aims and principles laid out by Deacon Art but have expanded the scope to include all forms of contemplative prayer, not just Centering Prayer. Members of the group explore the best form of prayer that is appropriate to the individual such as Christian meditation, breath prayer, the Jesus Prayer, mantra prayer and others. The group session begins with a prayer; reading from a spiritual-based book along with a short reflection; then followed by a time of silent prayer. It is amazing how deep one’s prayer can become when praying in shared silence. That contemplative silence then follows the members of the group as they go about their daily lives.  

The term Contemplative prayer encompasses all the types of prayer mentioned above. It is a way of cultivating a deeper relationship with God as well as a way of quieting the mind while maintaining its alertness and may be quite refreshing. It is an exercise of faith, hope and selfless love and can be a path of transformation. It is resting in God beyond thoughts, words and emotions. God desires for us to come to God’s self so that God can actively work on our hearts. Contemplative prayer moves the focus from what I am doing to what God is doing in me. It is a prayer of surrender where we try to let everything go so that we can let our whole selves be with God. Normally, nothing special happens during the prayer since the fruit comes as we develop a deeper relationship with God and those around us as we seek to live contemplatively in the world.  

For more information about contemplative prayer see the following:

• Into the Silent Land: A Guide to the Christian Practice of Contemplation by Martin Laird

• Armchair Mystic: Easing into Contemplative Prayer by Mark E. Thibodeaux, SJ 

• Open Mind, Open Heart: the Contemplative Dimension of the Gospel by Thomas Keating

• The Jesus Prayer: A Way to Contemplation by Simon Barrington-Ward

Sr. Brigit-Carol, SD is a solitary religious in the Diocese of Northwest Texas and worships at the Church of the Heavenly Rest in Abilene

Diane Rose is a certified spiritual director and is a member at Southern Hills Church of Christ in Abilene.