What is the “goal” of centering prayer? That’s often a question that trips people up from time to time. It has tripped me up too. Let me explain what I mean…
Whether it’s from personal experience with different forms of meditation, portrayals of meditation and meditators in popular culture, or somewhere we can’t place, many people come to centering prayer with the expectation of having a mystical experience — having a vision of a burning bush, hearing the voice of God, experiencing some type of epiphany. That’s not the goal.
Maybe, you want to set your sights a little lower. Wouldn’t just having a sense of peace after prayer or that you have done “something” to be closer to God be enough? That’s not the goal.
Do these things happen? Yes…sometimes…for some people. There is no specific rhyme or reason to why or whom either. For instance, I have been practicing centering prayer much longer and more consistently than my wife, but she consistently “experiences” more than I do. Why?
I don’t know.
However, I do know that experiences are not the goal. So, what is the goal? Well, that’s really the wrong question in my opinion. At its core, centering prayer is a relationship to the divine, the ultimate, God. It is listening in that relationship.
Are there “goals” to your close relationships? Are there “goals” when you are listening to your wife/husband/significant other? If there are, that can really spell trouble for the depth of that relationship in the future.
Yes, you will see effects in your life from centering prayer over time — increasing patience, calmness, awareness, but that’s not the point.
The point is to be. Just be. And, the next time you breathe, ponder how that breath is God’s answer to your prayer…and the answer is life, in this moment — life.