Step Eleven of the Program of
Alcoholics Anonymous states: “[We] Sought through prayer and meditation to improve
our conscious contact with God as we
understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power
to carry that out.”
Michael Z, who publishes a weekly
message entitled “Wisdom of the Rooms” [www.thewisdomoftherooms.com],
discussed Step 11. "For a long time
I wondered what the difference between prayer and meditation was, and then I
heard this quote. [Prayer is talking to God; Meditation is listening for
His answer.] While it immediately made
sense, there were important distinctions I soon had to learn. In the beginning
my prayers were all about what I wanted to see happen for me and other people.
I was busy telling God what to do. "Please let me get that job";
"Help my friend get better"; "Don't let me lose
it/her/that." It took me many years to realize that God's will for my life
and others far exceeded my limited vision and best intentions.
‘After years of developing faith through experience, I finally saw the
wisdom in the second part of step 11: "… praying only for the knowledge of
God's will for us and the power to carry that out." That knowledge is the
answer I listen for in meditation, and my faith today comes from the
understanding that God's will is always the best for myself and others. And
what a load off my shoulders that is.
“Today I sincerely pray for the knowledge of God's will, and I listen
for the best ways to carry that out.”
Even with all my seminary
training, I, too, had much the same difficulty when dealing with the eleventh
step. My prayers were also about wanting God to do what I wanted – “Please let
me …; Help my friend …; Don't let me lose …. Oh! and by the way, I’ll abide
with whatever You decide.”
There was a fellow in the
Program who used to proudly announce that God had answered every one of his
prayers – every one! “Of course,” he went on, “99.9% of His answers were ‘No.’”
We all would laugh, but how absolutely correct he was!
I’ve heard fundamentalists decry
the use of meditation because it violates some spiritual rule that would offend
God. It’s evil, satanic, or the devil in sheep’s clothing they would say. I’ve
heard them say the same thing about Yoga. Fear. That’s all it is. A fundamental
faith based on fear, yet fear is the opposite of Faith.
A Course in Miracles (ACIM)
deals with this issue by making it very clear that what we need to do is very,
very little. It is basically just to be willing to see things differently – to
see with the Holy Spirit’s vision rather than with our physical egoic eyes. The
physical eyes are designed only to “see” the 3-D world of our own perception.
They cannot “see” the True Spiritual Reality of the Love of God, which is all
there is!
To see with the Holy Spirit’s
eyes is not to “see” at all. It is to have vision. We just have to have the
willingness to want that. That’s all, folks – as Porky Pig used to say at the
end of one of his cartoons.
That’s also all that is needed
to learn to meditate in order to hear the voice of God for you. Many people
desire to meditate and end up doing a form of contemplation. They read a verse
of scripture or some other inspiring thought and then focus on that for a bit.
That is contemplation. It has its place and can be very helpful. But it’s not
meditation.
Others believe that meditation
is totally emptying your mind of all thoughts. Perhaps experienced Hindu gurus
can accomplish this. I can’t and never have been able to. When I try, all I am
focusing on is how busy my mind really is. I end up fighting with myself trying
to not think of the many voices
I hear. I used to try to say to myself as I meditated, “Thank you for sharing”
every time a stray thought came to my attention. At the end of the 30-minutes,
I realized all I was doing was repeating “Thank you for sharing,” “Thank you for
sharing,” “Thank you for sharing,” “Thank you for sharing.” Needless to say, I
did not feel rejuvenated or rested or calm or peaceful after a meditation like
this.
Willingness. Willingness to see
things differently. Willingness to see with God’s vision. Willingness to hear
what God has to say. For that to happened I need to simply be quiet and listen
for His whispers. As I’ve said before in these messages, it is like learning to
distinguish my children’s cries – understanding a cry of pain from a cry of anger
from a cry of boredom/frustration or from a cry of illness. I don’t know how I
did it but I did. I can listen to a special song I like, even though I’m in a crowded
room with many voices. I can sort of hear the people (at least enough to be
polite) while I’m really tuned in to the music I want to hear – the 2nd
movement of Tchaikovsky’s piano concerto, for example – that’s playing in the
background.
We are all very mentally lazy
and we need to train our minds more. We need to be able to listen for the
still, small whispers of God. If it’s a “loud” voice I hear, I know it’s of my
ego. It’s Felix. And Felix can speak with many voices all at once. They are all
loud. Spirit’s voice never is.
AA old-timers define the
difference between prayer and meditation: Prayer is talking to God; Meditation
is listening for His answer.
Although these messages are
mostly for me, thanks for listening. As always – feel free to forward this
message to your friends, family, and those accompanying you on your spiritual
journey.
Don
#3 Aug 2015
Copyright 2015
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