From time to time, it is helpful to revisit the hows and whys of our meditation practice of Centering Prayer.

In Centering Prayer, we sit in silence to experience God’s presence with us. No one speaks in the background guiding us to relax this muscle or that—although it’s perfectly all right to relax—and no one tries to paint a word picture to focus on. There are not a lot of rules, but for beginners there is a little brochure.

I watched Fr. Thomas Keating give instructions about how to do Centering Prayer. It’s a wonderful video of an aged priest patiently telling his followers how to undertake this ancient practice. It’s simple, he said, and he repeated the four steps that we use to introduce our sessions. Choose a sacred word. Close your eyes. Let the word bring you back to your center and keep the rest of the world at bay.

Finally, in response to a question from the audience, he simply said, “Just sit down.” Be quiet for 20-25 minutes. There’s no bad way to meditate.

Keating was among the founders of Contemplative Outreach, which is “a spiritual network of individuals and small faith communities committed to living the contemplative dimension of the Gospel.” Pamala Begeman at Contemplative Outreach graciously welcomed us to participate in an interfaith online meditation community called Meditation Chapel.

That association connects us with about 150 meditation groups worldwide. When you register to participate in our Friday morning meditation, the web links allow you access to all the other meditation sessions.

Want to meditate on Tuesday at noon, there’s likely a place to go. Meditate in French or Dutch? Combine Centering prayer with passage meditation? Yes to all of that.

You can register via this link, or if you find that confusing or challenging, just send me an email at charlestaylorkerchner@gmail.com and I will take care of the paperwork. (The folks at Meditation Chapel ask that all participants register in order to prevent malicious use of the site.)

Photo: CTK, Exeter Cathedral, England, 2010.