The founder of Contemplative Outreach, Father Thomas Keating, OCSO, often said “Silence is God’s first language.”
This maxim is more a statement of proximity than linguistics. When someone is far away, we yell. When they are near, we whisper. The language of silence implies extreme closeness and intimacy: God is closer to us than we are to ourselves.
When we call to mind the presence of God, Saint Francis suggests we imagine God in us. He also recommends thinking of God as everywhere. But if God is everywhere, then there is no place we can be but in God. God in us, we in God… such intimate proximity! In this closeness, God speaks in the silent, universal language of pure love and presence. Our silent prayer, then, is the holy sound our hearts make when united with God. And union, Saint Francis taught, is exactly what love seeks.
Centering prayer is a contemporary presentation of the prayer described in the spiritual classic, The Cloud of Unknowing. Its anonymous author invites us to “Lift up [our] hearts to God with a humble impulse of love… without thinking of anything but [God].” He calls us to send little arrows of love into the Divine Indwelling and so unite our human heart with the Sacred Heart.
Centering Prayer differs from discursive meditation. The latter uses our intellect, imagination, memories, and senses to bring Scripture alive. It helps us understand the Lord, hear the Holy Spirit, and live Jesus. In contrast, Centering Prayer lets go of thoughts, memories, feelings, insights, and commentaries. We give them as little attention as possible. We not only ignore thoughts about ourselves but about God as well. The aim of Centering Prayer is not to think about God, but to love God, the Ultimate Mystery who can “certainly be loved, but not (fully) known” (Saint Denis).
When we attempt to move prayer from the head to the heart, we realize our minds are like perpetual motion machines: thoughts keep coming down the stream of consciousness and some really grab our attention. This is a normal part of Centering Prayer. When we get caught by thought, when we move away from our initial intention to consent to God’s presence and action within us, we quickly return to our loving gaze of God with the smallest of mental action, such as using a simple prayer word like “God." Simplicity and gentleness are major characteristics of Centering Prayer.
Fr. Ken McKenna, OSFS
Novice Director
