by David Anderson
“Remember to breathe.” I often say this to people under stress—whether it’s distress or eustress. It’s something I have to tell myself. We don’t have to think to breathe. If we did, we’d fall asleep at night and suffocate in our beds. But like all gifts, autonomic breathing also holds liabilities. We can go months, […]
by David Anderson 2 Comments Filed Under: Awareness, Breathing, Daily Practice, Letting Go, Now/ the Present, Prayer/Meditation
One of the gifts of vacation is to change up one’s prayer ritual. Normally, Pam and I sit for prayer in a corner of our bedroom. There are two chairs, a small table for an oil lamp, a few sacred books, and a timer that sounds a Tibetan prayer bell when our orison is over. […]
by David Anderson 7 Comments Filed Under: Awareness, creation, Daily Practice, Nature/Creation, Now/ the Present, Prayer/Meditation
All mankind’s troubles are caused by one single thing, which is their inability to sit quietly in a room. -Blaise Pascal When I leave on vacation later in August, I am leaving my smart phone at home. There should probably be some version of methadone for those who stop doodling with their phones […]
by David Anderson 4 Comments Filed Under: Adult Spirituality, Awareness, Faith/Trust, Letting Go, Listening, Now/ the Present, Patience, Prayer/Meditation, Silence
I am sitting with my father, playing gin rummy, but I might as well be sitting in a monastery or any retreat house. I am here for a week. Our days are simple and highly ritualized. Breakfast is at 8:30. (Two eggs on an English muffin, daily, for him.) We may converse for a while […]
by David Anderson 7 Comments Filed Under: Community, Daily Practice, Family, Intimacy, Prayer/Meditation, Silence
“God is an underground river,” Meister Eckhart said, “that no one can dam up or stop.” I love that image of God because it completely flips the dominant image of God “up there.” When we first imagine a deity, God is always “up,” always distant, the Sky God of nearly every ancient religion. Until gradually […]
by David Anderson 7 Comments Filed Under: Abundance, Daily Practice, Prayer/Meditation
How strange is it that the U.S. military is spending millions to teach Marines how to meditate? Still within churches and religious institutions we find enormous reluctance or suspicion around meditation. It’s an “Eastern” thing. To many American Christians, the notion of sitting there and “doing nothing” seems almost dissolute (even though Jesus praised […]
by David Anderson 8 Comments Filed Under: Adult Spirituality, Awareness, Daily Practice, Happiness, Now/ the Present, Prayer/Meditation
Poosh goes the little oxygen tank. Every three seconds, a little burst of air forced through the clear plastic tubes running around his ears and under his nose. I am sitting in the chapel of Holy Cross Monastery in West Park, New York. After the long chanting of Psalms we rest in silence. That’s when […]
by David Anderson 7 Comments Filed Under: Awareness, Listening, Prayer/Meditation
We live in a world where important people are plugged in, wired, connected. Information blizzards us. Cyber-social networks keep us continuously updated on hundreds or thousands of people in real-time stream of consciousness. The Twitterers tweet. We don’t have to go looking for the “news.” Ping—it comes looking for us, clogging the inbox. We used […]
by David Anderson 7 Comments Filed Under: Awareness, Daily Practice, Identity, Listening, Now/ the Present, Prayer/Meditation, Vocation/ Calling