My husband attended a silent retreat last weekend in Detroit at the Capuchin Retreat Center. If you have never been there, I highly recommend it. The theme for the weekend was Prayer – all different kinds of prayer. One of the reasons I love being Catholic is all the different styles of prayer we practice. There is literally something for everyone. There is meditative prayer, repetitive prayer, from the heart prayer, Eucharistic prayer, adoration, silent prayer, reconciliation, liturgy, Mass, the Rosary, and more. (sounds like a sales pitch, doesn’t it?)
One meditation that my husband was encouraged to try was to take a verse from the bible and repeat it again and again silently.
Try it:
Be still and know that I am God.
Be still and know that I am God.
Be still and know that I am God.
Now repeat it with your eyes closed. Block out all visual stimulation and think about the words.
Another exercise is to repeat it as many times as you feel necessary, then drop one word from the end. How does that change the meaning? Keeping dropping words.
Be still and know that I am God.
Be still and know that I am.
Be still and know.
Be still.
Be.
That changes things, doesn’t it?
Now reverse it. Start with one word and go back to the full sentence, repeating it until you have a clear vision of what God is saying to you.
Be.
Be still.
Be still and know.
Be still and know that I am.
Be still and know that I am God.
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