Season 1 Trailer
Listen to this episode on:
Are you seeking to deepen your interior life through the practice of Centering Prayer? Do you have a desire to develop a closer connection to the divine as well as those around you?
Opening Minds, Opening Hearts is a podcast for both the curious meditator and long-time practitioner of Centering Prayer. On each episode, hosts Colleen Thomas and Mark Dannenfelser will reflect on the method of Centering Prayer with some friends of Contemplative Outreach who share their personal experiences of encountering God through the prayer, and through their work in the world. Topics discussed will include New Monasticism, the value of silence, the practice of contemplation and the call to social action.
Through this podcast, we hope to provide new perspectives on the future of this prayer in the rapidly changing spiritual and technological landscape. Centering Prayer is a practice and a gift and we are excited to share this blessing with our listeners.
Opening Minds, Opening Hearts TRAILER: Welcome to Opening Minds, Opening Hearts Colleen Thomas [00:00:06] This podcast, Opening Minds, Opening Hearts is the latest offering from Contemplative Outreach. One of the guiding principles of Contemplative Outreach is to share the prayer, to share the method of centering prayer. And now approaching the 40th anniversary of Contemplative Outreach. We are having conversations about the changing landscape of contemplative prayer, meditation, and mindfulness practice, all of which have become mainstream in the way that they have not been over the last 40 years. And people are curious about meditation practice and the contemplative life slowing down stillness, connecting with yourself and the divine. Mark Dannenfelser [00:00:59] And that's the hope, I think, for doing the podcast in the first place, is that it would be another way that we could share the prayer, the practice of centering prayer. And for the podcast to be a voice in communicating and translating this deep and rich Christian tradition of contemplation. And there are many voices out there, and we just humbly want to be one of those voices too in our conversation with others who are practicing this prayer and also living out the contemplative life, that these are, these extraordinary and also ordinary people who just practice centering prayer as a way of deepening their relationship with God, and the God of their own understanding. Lerita Brown [00:01:45] There was a growing awareness of something broader than me, more expansive than me. I found it very healing both socially, psychologically and physically. And I went through a number of medical ordeals, which I think was very helpful for me to have a practice, a regular daily practice. Carl McColman [00:02:04] And of course, the mystery here is the mystery of contemplation as a divine gift. But what I like to say is it's not something we achieve, it's something we receive. Colleen Thomas [00:02:15] We also spend time talking with our guests about how to do centering prayer, the method of centering prayer and the guidelines for the practice, which I think is pretty important too, because there are many ways to connect with yourself. And centering prayer is one of many ways to connect with yourself and the divine. And we hope that our listeners are engaged and inspired to begin a practice and or deepen their practice of centering prayer and even possibly add centering prayer to their own contemplative, existing contemplative practice in ways that's deeply enriching and nourishing and makes us all more aware of how God is working in the world and how we can participate in that work. Lerita Brown [00:03:11] What centering prayer does is that it continues to open us up and continues to help us see these places where you're not free. Colleen Thomas [00:03:22] In this first season, we've chosen to speak with people who are, as we call them, friends of Contemplative Outreach, people for whom centering prayer is and or has been foundational to the formation of their contemplative life. And I'm also really encouraged by the reverence and honor that they have for not only the practice of centering prayer, but for the teachings of Father Thomas Keating, who is one of our great founding teachers of contemporary modern contemplative practice in the US. Mark Dannenfelser [00:04:02] It's inspiring and it's affirming, and there's a sense for me of this kind of looking back with appreciation and gratitude and also knowledge to look back on this deep tradition of which Father Keating was such a critical part of. And then to also be looking forward into the kind of the future of the contemplative tradition and so many of our guests are, as we've been talking with them, you know, are commenting about that as well. So this kind of looking back and looking ahead and also reflecting on that right here right now in this present moment. And one of the things that Keating said about the Christian tradition of contemplative prayer is that it's a pure gift from God that we could be part of that gift and receive that gift is a really important, and sometimes I forget that, that we have this treasure and it just asks us to open up to it. That's why I love the title of our podcast, Opening Minds, Opening Hearts, and that's really the invitation.
