As promised, now and again, I'll be posting what others say about Centering Prayer and sharing some of my own personal experiences. Here, for example, is a gift from William A. Menninger, a friend of Thomas Keating and Basil Pennington, who also helped many of us come to know the beautiful mystery and dynamics of Centering Prayer.
When we practice the simple meditation of contemplative prayer, we love God for Godself alone. We have no other motive. We seek no personal favors, no consolations. We do not pray for anything, not for the church, not for our friends, not for sinners. Simply, Nothing. Nothing. Nothing--but loving God. When we do this, dear friend, something very interesting happens. When we seek to love God above all things with our whole mind, heart, and strength, as Jesus tells us, that love spills over and we soon discover that we are also in God, loving our neighbor and ourselves. This is why when Jesus was asked what was the one great commandment, he had to give two commandments. He said, 'The second commandment is like the first: love your neighbor as yourself for the love of God.
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Meninger, William A. The Loving Search for God: Contemplative Prayer and The Cloud of Unknowing. New York: Continuum, 1998.
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