Pathway to Peace

The pathways to peace are not always readily discovered; more frequently, they are revealed with closer deeper attentiveness.  

While visiting the Oakwood Community of the Religious of the Sacred Heart in Atherton, CA, I shared an hour of silent meditation in the chapel with about 40 of our elder sisters.  While sitting, the silence grew deeper, temple-like in its quality. One could sense the Spirit hovering in the flow of divine presence.

This profound experience reminded me that it is precisely when we are “out of breath,” “losing our breath” or “gasping for breath,” THAT we know how much we need it. To “catch our breath,” we have to slow down or stop, or else it stops us: dead in our tracks. Humans cannot survive more than 1-2 minutes without the flow of breath.  Literally, without it, we lose consciousness. Our breath is so central to life one might forget to stay deeply connected with it.  And, yet, returning to our breath opens us to the “breath of God,” the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. Our breath connects us with the divine breath, the “Ruah” of existence.

In times of trouble, tension, or turmoil, experiences such as those at the Oakwood Community remind me of the contemplative gift of our vocation as women Religious and as partners with so many in a mission to “make known the love of the Heart of Jeus.” Individually and communally, we commit to this practice.

The Spirit dwelling within us gradually transforms us, enabling us through His power
to remove whatever hinders His action.
The Spirit unites and conforms is to Jesus and makes us sensitive to his presence
within ourselves, in others and in all that happens.
Thus we learn to contemplate reality and to experience with His Heart,
to commit ourselves to the service of the Kingdom and to grow in love….”

(Society of the Sacred Heart Constitutions, #21)

A Centering Meditation

The following “Opening One’s Heart” centering mediation was written as a way of beginning a recent gathering of the RSCJ for “Conversations in the Spirit.” These types of conversations open us to hearing Gods’ call during these “historical and paradoxical” times with a view toward discerning the future. This meditation can be modified for similar gatherings as a way of opening our hearts and connecting deeply with others. A guide in any group can simply lead the group through the experience.

Opening One’s Heart: A Centering Meditation

Take a seat. Slide your seat to the back of the chair. Straighten your back. Place your hands in your lap. Drop your shoulders. Relax the muscles in your face. Feel that happening as you do it. (Repeat this step again, if desired.) Releasing any tension.

Touch the arm of the person seated next to you on your right. Leave it there.

Close your eyes. Breathe in (count to 5) | Breathe out (count to 5).

Breathing In: I open up space in my heart.
Breathing out: I welcome [my sisters] to this place.

Breathing in: I open space in my heart
Breathing out: I welcome all of [my sisters] to this gathering.

Breathing in: I open space in my heart
Breathing out: I welcome the world with all its hurts and anguish to this time

Breathing in: I open space in my heart
Breathing out: I welcome the Holy Spirit in us, between us, among us.

Pause

When you are ready, open your eyes.

Holy Spirit, come and fill this place. Fill us with your grace and with your warm embrace.
Amen. 

Returning to our breath can happen at any time throughout the day. It is not an intellectual activity, although it might very well sharpen it. Its value is not comprehended through analysis, but through encounter.