Armchair mystic ch4
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Transcript of Armchair mystic ch4
Chapter 4
SolitudeA Necessary Tool
ArmchairMystic
Chapter 4
What’s the difference?
SILENCE vs. SOLITUDE
ArmchairMystic
Chapter 4
Be Still, and Know That I Am God!
• I can have silence without solitude, but cannot have solitude with being silent on some level.• in other words…Silence is a prerequisite
• Those who long for a state of solitude when they prayer must first be accustomed to silence.
ArmchairMystic
Chapter 4
Be Still, and Know That I Am God!Thibodeaux states, “Most people are uncomfortable with silence,
and subconsciously avoid it.” In Pairs Discuss:
Why do you think this is so? What is the discomfort with silence? What are people avoiding? How (un)comfortable are you with silence? Armchair
Mystic
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Let’s Try This…
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Sit in silence for 5 minutes
How was it? Awkward? Anxious? Pleasant?
Homework: For the next 24 Hours, track how much time you experience silence. Don’t manufacture it, just take notice of it through your day.
Some Recommended Exercises
• Becoming Aware of My Body – while breathing slowly, intentionally going from toe the top of head, thanking God for each body part.
• Mantra (means “quieting method”) – sacred word or phrase repeated several times over in order to quiet self and focus on God.
• Chanting – chanting a quiet, slow, simple religious song repeatedly, allowing it to “take over my body” (e.g. Taize)
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Chapter 4
Solitude: A DefinitionSolitude: Emptying the cup that is my soul so that God may come and fill it with himself.
[It is not the gift of the state of being, but it is the ultimate disposition for receiving that gift.]
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I am not speaking, listening, acting…only being
…no clear distinction between “I” and God.
Some Tips
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• Feel for an opening, then drift into it. I can lean toward solitude, I cannot force it.
• Every prayer time has its own unique rhythm. Embrace the gift of God’s presence in whatever form he chooses just then. • Lean into being and away from activity
The Mark of Contemplative Prayer
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Chapter 4
I am always in the process of allowing God, if it is his will, to take me to the depths where there is only God and I.
