A Delightful Surprise in the Daily Office Today

This morning when June and I were preparing for Morning Prayer, we discovered in our prayerbook that the fourth appointed reading for today comes from a sermon by Johannes Tauler (1300-1361). What a surprise, especially so because it relates so nicely to the discussion on Centering Prayer that a few of us had last night in our living room.

I happen to like Tauler a good deal; many of his sayings are worth slipping into one’s chapbook of quotations, worth remembering. Here are three samples:

A good meditation, even when it is interrupted by occasional nodding, is much more beneficial than many outward religious exercises.

As a good wine must be kept in a good cask, so a wholesome body is the proper foundation for a well-appointed inner ground.

In the school of the Spirit man learns wisdom through humility, knowledge by forgetting, how to speak by silence, how to live by dying.

In the fourteenth century, of course, Tauler didn’t know that his contemplative prayer is now often called “Centering Prayer." He simply called what he did prayer, and he frequently preached wonderful sermons about doing contemplative or centering prayer. Here following is the excerpt the editors in my prayerbook appointed for today’s reading. To help you see how it is a commentary on or explanation of what we now call Centering Prayer, within brackets I've provided some editorial comments. As you read the excerpt, it’s also important to know that in this sermon, Tauler refers to a medieval legend which suggests that when the Holy Family fled to Egypt, the idols of the Egyptians crumbled whenever Joseph, Mary, and the infant Jesus passed by.

Should God speak, you must be silent; should He enter, created things [thoughts, perceptions] must give way. When our Lord entered Egypt (Matthew 2.13-15), all idols crashed to the ground; those are our false gods [again, our thoughts, ruminations, abstract thinking, imagining, and so on], everything that hinders the immediate generation [birth] of the divine Word [God] in the soul, however good and holy it may seem [in other words, don’t mistake thinking about God for dwelling in the Presence of God]. Our Lord tells us that he had come to bring a sword to cut off all that clings to man, even mother, sister, and brother. For that with which you keep intimate company [your thoughts and perceptions] without God, that is hostile to you. The multiplicity of images [again, thoughts] conceals the divine Word and prevents its birth in you, although the inner stillness [the “still point” in Centering Prayer] may not be entirely removed. Though it [that is, the inner stillness] may sometimes desert you, it should nevertheless become a fertile ground for the divine birth. Cherish this deep silence within, nourish it frequently [twice a day is recommended], so that it may become a habit, and by becoming a habit, a mighty possession . . . . It is habit which creates skill [in living out the Christian life]. May God help us to prepare a dwelling place for Christ’s noble birth, so that we may attain spiritual motherhood [that is, giving birth of Jesus in our hearts].

Isn’t that wonderful! Can you imagine a pastor or preacher describing prayer like that from a pulpit today? Well, not likely. To be reminded of this kind of praying, we now need to help of those who know our Christian tradition well, folks like Thomas Keating, Basil Pennington, and William Menninger. You can be sure that they recognize Johannes Tauler as a good friend!

Hoping that you are finding practice of Centering Prayer helpful, let’s remember one another in our intercessions and plan to meet again at the end of January, 2009. In the meantime, listen to Keating’s advice: just sit quietly, twice a day if possible.

Image: Fuite in Egypte [The Flight into Egypt]