Contemplative
Outreach
News
Volume 10, Number 2 
Winter - 1996
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Spiritual Direction ::
Taste and See :: From St. Andrew's
Retreat House
Centering as a Couple :: Updates :: Community
Contributions
A Glimpse of Reality from the Philippines
Spiritual Direction
Part I
by Fr. Thomas Keating, O.C.S.O.
Many practitioners of Centering Prayer are wondering now that
they are on the journey if they should have a spiritual director. I shall make a
few suggestions about the spiritual direction of contemplatives, by which I mean
those who are doing a contemplative practice that leads to contemplation such as
Centering Prayer.
Do we find spiritual direction in the gospel? The gospel is
all spiritual direction in the sense of spiritual formation. This is a very
important distinction to keep in mind Spiritual formation is a distinct although
related activity to spiritual direction. If you have read any of my books or sat
through any of the spiritual Journey video tapes, they are examples of spiritual
formation.
Jesus is THE teacher in the Christian tradition. Let us take
an example. Jesus was walking down the road one day and a young man came up and
said, "I will follow you wherever you go." He was presenting himself
as a student to a teacher. What was Jesus' reply? "The foxes have holes and
the birds have nests but the Son of Man has no where to lay his head."
These few words brought this young man face to face with what it might mean by
way of personal sacrifice to follow Jesus.
Another young man came up and said to Jesus, "I want to
follow you but let me go and bury my father." Jesus replied, "Let the
dead bury the dead and come follow me. "These wisdom sayings are not meant
to be taken literally. They are directed to a person and that is what
distinguishes spiritual formation from spiritual direction, which is the
application of principles to a particular situation or problem in one's life.
Spiritual direction is very personal because it is about one's relationship with
God "right now", whether you have a good one or should do something to
improve the one you have. Evidently this young man was attached to the folks at
home. This is not a sin. But spiritual direction is not primarily about sins. It
involves sins as the symptom of the fundamental disease. The disease is the
false self with its emotional programs for happiness which drive us to seek for
happiness in the wrong places or too much in the right places. When these are
frustrated, they move us to trample on the rights and needs of others and our
own true good in order to get what we want or to get away from what we do not
want. This is basically what sin is.
This young man was over-attached to his family. The spiritual
direction that he got was a vigorous challenge to his value system. "How
much do you want to follow me?" Jesus asks. So much that you will "let
the dead bury the dead?" This particular piece of advice does not mean that
we should do the same, given our cultural circumstances. It means that this
person was being challenged to think of where he stood in relation to the
request he had made. How strong, how deep was his motivation? Often the requests
that we make in prayer are naive. We do not know what we are asking for, like
the two sons of Zebedee who asked to be on the right and left hand of Jesus in
his Kingdom. His answer was not a criticism but a challenge to look at their
motives. "Can you drink the cup I will drink?" In other words, think
of what is involved in sitting at my right and left hand.
Spiritual direction at its best is directed to a crisis or a
significant situation in our relationship to God that needs to be looked at and
evaluated. A good spiritual director challenges us at the right moment with the
right question. Someone who tells us in general what might be a good policy,
such as doing Centering Prayer twice a day for twenty minutes or attend an
intensive retreat, or something else, is giving us spiritual advice rather than
spiritual direction.
Spiritual direction is distinguished from soul friending in
which one shares one's spiritual journey with a trusted person who has been
through the same journey or is having the same experiences. This relationship
arises spontaneously in the small contemplative communities that we formerly
called support groups and which we now divide into initial or mature
contemplative communities. The spiritual formation that is being offered through
Contemplative Outreach is full of spiritual challenges that are not necessarily
adapted to one's situation right now The Holy Spirit is our principle guide now
that Jesus has departed physically from this life. He sent His Spirit to teach
us all truth and the most important truth to know is God's will for us here and
now and to have the determination to pursue it.
Spiritual direction can be extremely brief. The disciples of
the Desert Fathers would come to an Abba (which means spiritual father) and ask
for a word of wisdom. In other words, "Tell me what I should do. I am tired
of sitting in my cell. I am tired of all these thoughts. I am tired of whatever
the equivalent of Centering Prayer was called in those days. What shall I
do?" The old man would usually reply with one sentence or with one word. In
this case, the old man replied, "Go sit in your cell and your cell will
teach you everything." Now this advice may not be practical for folks who
are not living in a desert milieu. My purpose in repeating this story is to
point out that "what should I do?" got a very brief response.
Usually a word of wisdom, when it breaks through the defenses
of our false self, puts a crack in our attitudinal biases, preconceived ideas,
and even our plans for holiness. It is a great gift if we can take it. Here is
where the spiritual director cannot be just someone who has taken an academic
course and is certified. All such courses contain useful information, just as
the spiritual formation that is offered in Contemplative Outreach workshops is
useful. But the usefulness is limited until we apply the teaching to our actual
life situation and motivation. Basically our conscience, enlightened by the Holy
Spirit, is the ultimate director and the human director is in service of
awakening our sensitivity to the Spirit. The Spirit works through the Seven
Gifts of the Spirit nudging our conscience and suggesting what to do in
practical life. The Seven Gifts of the Spirit are a kind of "cloud of
unknowing" that guides us like the Israelites who were led through the
desert by the cloud, a symbol of the Spirit. This enveloping cloud warns us that
our rational evaluation of situations is not enough and that we need the
intuitive assistance of the Gifts of the Spirit which are higher levels of
inspiration and motivation.
Another important point is that one should ask oneself before
seeking a spiritual director, "Just what is it that I am looking for?"
"Am I looking for reassurance?" "Am I looking for somebody to
take responsibility for my life?" Sometimes both spiritual direction and
psychotherapy work well together. Gerald May of the Shalem Institute has
distinguished pastoral counseling, spiritual direction, and psychotherapy (Will
and Spirit, Harper & Row, 1983). Each of these has its own particular
integrity which needs to be respected. There is, perhaps, a little too much
interest in spiritual direction today. But it is a good sign that many are
asking what they should do to deepen their relationship with God.
But where are we going to find a director such as I am
describing? This is a problem that has been with the Church since the beginning.
If it were necessary to have a spiritual director to be saved, Jesus would have
said so and the Church would be doing nothing else but training spiritual
directors, which is clearly not the case. My experience is that you only become
sensitive to the spiritual crisis that someone else is having when you have been
on the contemplative journey yourself for a number of years, at least 10 or 20.
You cannot know the angst of the dilemma or the anxiety that someone is going
through when they have a spiritual problem that involves the next phase of their
spiritual lives unless you have been there. They are at a crossroads and they do
not know which way to take. This is classically called a double bind. This is
part of the human condition, not just something that sinners suffer from.
Sometimes you are in a situation that God himself cannot heal without you or
without your ongoing struggle to do the right thing. The double bind is when one
needs a spiritual director.
Too much spiritual direction can be a waste of time. It can
lead to a dependency Some people may be looking for someone to make their
decisions for them. To be in a community that is seeking God, as the support
groups are in our contemplative communities, the group can often give better
spiritual direction in a crisis of faith because a few of them may have been
through the experience. Experience is more important than knowledge of an
academic kind once you enter on the contemplative journey. Hence the first
qualification that you should look for in a spiritual director is whether he or
she has contemplative experience and preferably experience of Centering Prayer.
The latter has a special dynamic that even people who are well read and very
knowledgeable in the Christian tradition do not understand. They understand that
it is a contemplative practice but because they have not practiced it, they
really do not grasp its nuances. That is why I suggest caution rather than
enthusiasm for spiritual direction. Our primary need is spiritual formation and
this is the work that is offered in Centering Prayer and its conceptual
background.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spiritual Direction ::
Taste and See :: From St. Andrew's
Retreat House
Centering as a Couple :: Updates :: Community
Contributions
A Glimpse of Reality from the Philippines
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Taste and See ~ Taste and See ~ Taste and
See
I just want to share with you a special love of my life the
richness of our Christian contemplative tradition. I wish I had more time to get
to know all the powerful women and men on whose shoulders we stand in our
practice of Centering Prayer. As I travel around the world I am finding that
there is a growing interest among people to experience and become acquainted
with the major figures of our tradition.
As you know, in January 1994 a Contemplative Outreach
Institute was held at Beech Grove, Indiana to retrieve, reclaim and
reappropriate the apophatic contemplative tradition which is the foundation of
our practice of Centering Prayer. The video and audio tapes are available and
listed in the Contemplative Outreach Catalogue and in this newsletter.
These last few months I have been working with Set II of the
Institute--An Overview of the Apophatic Tradition presented so powerfully in a
scholarly way by Fr. James Wiseman. My task was to prepare a guidebook for the
use of this tape. He presents nine of the major people from Gregory of Nysaa to
Thomas Merton giving special attention to John of the Cross. I envision a study
and discussion group working with this tape, taking the time to listen to the
presentation and entering into a discussion on each. The guidebook is available.
I would like to also call your attention to two other items
that are available. My five tape album entitled Christian Mysticism: A Visit with
Some of the Superstars. These were taped at a summer program presented at St.
Norbert's College in Wisconsin. Many have found them to be a helpful
introduction to mysticism.
A research project has been conducted by ten members of
Contemplative Outreach exploring the thirty-two men and women whom Thomas
Keating mentions in his paper on the Christian Contemplative Tradition. Fact
sheets have been prepared on each person and are available in a work entitled
The Companion.
I invite you to taste and see.
Fr. Carl. J. Arico
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spiritual Direction ::
Taste and See :: From St. Andrew's
Retreat House
Centering as a Couple :: Updates :: Community
Contributions
A Glimpse of Reality from the Philippines
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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From St. Andrew's Retreat House
Hello Everybody,
I wanted to write a brief note to thank you for all your
prayers and good wishes supporting the move from Chrysalis House, and to let you
know how it's going. It has been quite an adventure--I moved in the midst of
much construction, began with a 10 day Post-Intensive, a couple of Introductory
Workshops and Days of Prayer and ended the summer with an August Post-Intensive
(and I had some vacation in between.) By the end of the August Post-Intensive I
knew God was truly blessing St. Andrew's.
From all reports, those who have come are delighted with the
accommodations; the house is warm, attractive, clean and roomy Srs. Rose Marie,
Veronica and Martha, who provide the hospitality, are gracious and welcoming.
The first person most retreatants meet is Christina, a lay woman, who keeps the
grounds lovely and facilitates the parking. St. Andrew's is a place where people
feel at home, supported and nourished--it is a place apart.
On our Post-Intensive Retreats we will not take more than 17
retreatants so everyone can have their own room (each of which has a sink). The
Personal Days of Prayer now include scheduled periods of Centering
Prayer. The Nine Month Course: The Practice of Contemplative Living is
continuing with 13 participants. This is the first time the Course is being
given outside Chrysalis House by lay people. We have open weekends for small
groups, and many other retreats/programs that are open to anyone.
For those of us on a contemplative journey, the support and
community of Chrysalis House is living on in a new form at St. Andrew's Retreat
House. There is not a resident community, but a community that broadens, changes
and expands with every new person. We continue all the Contemplative Outreach
Programs and experience the Holy Spirit inviting us to look at more creative
ways to be in the world. My response is still a hearty "Yes" to God's
will as it keeps unfolding in the ordinary activities of daily life.
I thank you with all my heart for the ways you have supported
and continue to support this transition and look forward to welcoming you to St.
Andrew's Retreat House.
Love and prayers,
Cathy McCarthy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spiritual Direction ::
Taste and See :: From St. Andrew's
Retreat House
Centering as a Couple :: Updates :: Community
Contributions
A Glimpse of Reality from the Philippines
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Return to
top
Centering as a Couple
My wife Liz and I had been centering separately, but we began
to think that our deepest prayer should be done together. We decided to rise
thirty minutes earlier in the morning to take advantage of this prime quiet
time, and to meet again in the afternoon. For the last four years this has
worked out beautifully.
Before we sit down to center we bow deeply to each other. The
bow says, "Let us go together deeply into the presence of God. Let us open
ourselves and our friendship to God's healing. Let us invite God to possess us
and to unite us." This little ritual before prayer helps us to enter our
prayer as a couple and, in a subordinate way, to be aware of each other as we
open ourselves to the Spirit.
The first benefit we receive is the mutual support we offer in
persevering in this prayer. At the times we have chosen we simply go to our
living room. We don't ask ourselves if we feel like it, or if we have time. Each
of us feels a responsibility to the other to be there even if we don't feel very
pious. We build this prayer rhythm into our days much as monks do.
Prayer is known by its fruits. Contemplative prayer affects
our whole day. It is impossible for it not to. After anyone has been deeply in
God's presence, that person far more easily recognizes Him in the events of the
day And to be with a spouse before God in silence makes it much more difficult
to be impatient or critical later on. The peace and closeness of shared silence
fills our home long after the prayer time is finished.
Contemplative prayer changes our relationship to everything
and everyone around us. Since our most important relationship is marriage, it
has changed more than any other. Liz and I have become far more aware of God
acting in our lives through each other. The responsibility we accepted when we
were married was to become sacrament to each other. Our shared silence makes us
much more sensitive, both in presenting the service of Jesus to each other, and
in receiving it from the other.
Another benefit is the acceptance of the faults of the other.
We are now so aware of the goodness of the other that the faults are part of the
context of the spouse's holiness. We let go more easily of the inevitable hurts
and resentments. We try to embrace the idiosyncrasies of the other as part of
our own purification.
Centering makes us more aware of our false selves. Unhealthy
coping devices that have been hidden for decades rise to consciousness in the
silence of prayer. As we become aware of these insights we frequently share them
with each other. This helps us to become less defensive with each other and it
makes our egos less tender.
Liz and I firmly believe that marital fidelity consists
primarily is supporting the partner's growth in holiness. We think that any sort
of prayer will nourish a marriage, but we think that contemplative prayer is
particularly effective.
Bob Maxwell
Washington, DC
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spiritual Direction ::
Taste and See :: From St. Andrew's
Retreat House
Centering as a Couple :: Updates :: Community
Contributions
A Glimpse of Reality from the Philippines
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Florida
Jacquie Brinkman
Contemplative Outreach of Central Florida participated in the
dedication of the Center for Art and Contemplative at San Pedro Center in Winter
Park, Florida on September 17, 1996. The former caretaker's cottage will be
used, among other uses, as the weekly meeting place for the follow-up of the
Centering Prayer Introduction of September 6-8. The dedication included
"Claire's Garden" in back of the cottage. It is a memorial to Sr.
Claire Gregg, sucs, who died in 1994 after serving as the first coordinator of
Contemplative Outreach of Central Florida (COCF) from 1987-1993. In the early
years of her ministry with Contemplative
Outreach, she facilitated the growth of Centering Prayer and the contemplative
lifestyle while on staff at San Pedro Center. The garden will be a silent,
living witness to Sr. Claire's oft-spoken words: "to BE in faith and love
for God."
COCF, recognizing the need to financially support the National
Office, has planned a Holy Land pilgrimage for May, 1997 with. Fr. William
Meninger, ocso as guide and Ilse Reissner as hostess. The proceeds will go to
the Contemplative Outreach National Office and assist with their ministry to a
worldwide network via books, tapes, videos, teleconferences, this newsletter, a
host of programs, and their prayers. Hopefully, other regions will be inspired
also to develop ongoing ways of financially returning in some measure the care
and support that is so generously given by the National Office network.
New Jersey
Therese Saulnier
Days of Renewal were held in June at Ascension Church in New
Milford and in September at Christ Church in New Brunswick. Fr. Carl Arico will
present Advent Days of Prayer on December 14, 1996 in Point Pleasant and on
December 15, 1996 in northern New Jersey. Details of Fr. Carl's days of prayer
will be mailed to the New Jersey members of the mailing list. Fr. Thomas
Keating, o.c.s.o will be present at a Day of Contemplative Enrichment at Don
Bosco Prep in Ramsey, NJ on April 26, 1997 with Gail Fitzpatrick-Hopler. Fr.
Keating will speak on the topic of transformation. Details will be mailed to
those in the New York metropolitan area.
South Africa
Winnie Young, Duran
When Fr. Carl Arico visited us in 1995, all those following
the way of prayer he had come to instruct us in were granted the honour and
privilege of styling ourselves members of Contemplative Outreach South Africa.
As one who, through the grace of God, has been instrumental in bringing this
about, it gives me pleasure to trace the development of Centering Prayer in
South Africa--as far as my involvement goes over the past 25 years.
It is interesting to note that during this time, and even
earlier, many people were practicing it, individually and on the quiet, often
without even recognizing it as contemplative prayer.
It was in the seventies when I returned from a course given in
England by the late and revered Carmelite--Fr. Matthew McGuttrick--that the
message took shape, came out in the open, and began to spread. Following Fr.
Matthew's example, several retreats were held in many centres in South Africa to
teach the way and confirm the commitment. One positive result of the retreats
was that small groups were formed to meet on a regular basis for the purpose of
praying silently together.
Further stimulation came from the John Main school of
meditation and their conferences, particularly those held in Dublin and
Montreal. It was not long before MARANATHA was adopted as the sacred word.
Not until 1991 did the light of Contemplative Outreach
(through Snowmass) reach our world and our few small groups were galvanized into
action. Action meant, firstly, a plea for help. We desperately needed someone
who could preach Centering Prayer (as we now came to know this traditional way
of Christian prayer) with the voice of authority And Fr. Thomas Keating, keenly
aware of our need, sent us Fr. Basil Pennington, all the way from Hong Kong, to
fill our need.
Fr. Basil was with us in April/May 1993, fulfilling his
mission in three of our major cities, Johannesburg on the Golden Reef, Durban in
Natal, and Cape Town, our mother city on the southern tip of the African
continent. Records show that more than 11,000 people attended Father's retreats
and workshops. This might seem a meagre figure by other standards, but not so
when it is realized that Christians were very much a minority in our
"Rainbow" society--as we are proud to describe ourselves today.
What better answer could be given than Fr. Carl Arico who was
with us for almost 4 weeks in 1995. With my assistance Fr. Carl gave many
two-hour workshops to hundreds of interested people and also conducted long
weekend training sessions in the same centres where Fr. Basil had prepared the
way. While 87 people attended the three courses for training, 29 of these
committed themselves to become "Presenters-in Training," During the
past 18 months these "Presenters in Training" have given a good
account of themselves. No less than 20 workshops have been held throughout the
country, where attendance encouragingly came from all. Just recently feelers
have been put out to establish links with our neighbouring states; and
hopefully, given time, we will be able to include Zimbabwe and Namibia in COSA.
During Fr. Carl's visit last May an Ad Hoc committee was
elected to steer COSA through its formative years, or until Fr. Carl could come
again. This committee of 7, living a thousand miles apart, is at present
preparing for its 4th meeting in the past 12 months, doing its best to guide our
infant organization through its initial stages, and to prepare adequately for
the future.
Fr. Carl is to return in April/May 1997, when he will be
directing Intensives in both Johannesburg and Cape Town and again training
prospective "Presenters in Training" in both these centres.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spiritual Direction ::
Taste and See :: From St. Andrew's
Retreat House
Centering as a Couple :: Updates :: Community
Contributions
A Glimpse of Reality from the Philippines
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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QUIET DAY
A day of quiet, set apart
To really listen with your heart
For God's soft calling of your name
Come My child, you won't be the same.
For once you've seen what I will do
You'll find this quiet's right for you.
I've waited long for this still time
To let you know that you are Mine.
Feel My presence and My love
Flowing down from heaven above.
This love I freely give to you
Comes back to Me by what you do.
CENTERING PRAYER
For twenty minutes twice each day
Praising God, we silently pray
He's given each a silent word
By God alone, this can be heard
As thoughts will come, we let them go
As this is how we try to show
That praising God is our intent
It is to Him we give consent
To work His will in us until
We do the work that is His will.
Diane Buchanan
Winter Park, Florida
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Spiritual Direction ::
Taste and See :: From St. Andrew's
Retreat House
Centering as a Couple :: Updates :: Community
Contributions
A Glimpse of Reality from the Philippines
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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A Glimpse of Realty From the Philippines
"All that I have is yours, and all you have is I
mine; and my glory is shown through them. "
To appreciate the value of silence in community, we were
encouraged to observe it from the end of the last conference in the evenings
until breakfast the following day. This was one of the important elements of our
seven-day closed retreat and formation workshop. One evening, as we were about
to retire and I was savoring the taste of silence on the porch of our cottage, I
suddenly heard my roommate rush out of the room. She was shaking with fright of
a giant spider that kept closing in on her as she sat reading her office in bed.
Without showing her how I felt about being disturbed, I went to the room and
with one deft strike of the slipper in my hand quickly disposed of the offending
creature. She was so profuse in thanking me and apologized for breaking my
silence.
The next day at sharing time, she related what had happened
the night before....about her profound experience of my love in soothing her
fear and the feeling of security I gave her by just being there. I knew that I
had done a good deed, but far from love, it was just an automatic response to a
friend in distress. I had to do it.
And then it dawned on me: the love she felt did not come from
me--it was Jesus in me who soothed her fears and comforted her in her moment of
anxiety.
Thank you, Lord, for making me an instrument of your love -
unworthy as I am.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spiritual Direction ::
Taste and See :: From St. Andrew's
Retreat House
Centering as a Couple :: Updates :: Community
Contributions
A Glimpse of Reality from the Philippines
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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