Intimacy With God: An Introduction To Centering Prayer

Intimacy With God: An Introduction to Centering Prayer

Product Description

This book is filled with insight and practical advice. It offers sound wisdom on the way that centering prayer can deepen our intimacy with God.
Rate Points :5.0
Binding :Paperback
Label :Crossroad Publishing
Manufacturer :Crossroad Publishing
ProductGroup :Book
Studio :Crossroad Publishing
Publisher :Crossroad Publishing
EAN :9780824515881
Price :$16.95USD
Lowest Price :$9.49USD
Customer ReviewsAn Explanation and Defense of Centering Prayer Techniques
Rating Point :4 Helpful Point :67
It is my guess that people who are looking at this title are already familiar with Trappist priest Thomas Keating and his championing of centering prayer. It is also likely that people who are familiar with Keating may know something about the controversy that surrounds the man and his technique of centering prayer. Perusing some of the criticisms of his book "Open Mind, Open Heart" by some Amazon readers will highlight both the admiration many have of this man, as well as some of the controversy. While some of the objections to centering prayer have merit if centering prayer becomes just another form of meditation, this is not due to Keatings writings as much as a misreading of his works or a misunderstanding of his intentions.

In this work, Keating sets out to further explain the technique of centering prayer. While he does use some psychology in this work, it does so not contain the heavy psychological point of view that some of his other writings contain (at least not in the detail), nor does he focus too heavily on non-Christian traditions of meditation. Instead he discusses centering prayer and roots in the Christian tradition. He also offers personal reasons why this technique is so important for him, namely that he saw many people who are Christians traveling to other parts of the world searching for something that is an important part of Catholic monasticism. The book was published in the 1990s, after years of trial and error concerning the centering prayer, as well as his success at leading workshops that introduced many people to those form of prayer, and the book contains many anecdotes he learned along the way.

Keating clearly sees the importance of centering prayer as a way of connecting with God, and entering into the presence of God. While he views it as a solitary activity by its nature, he strongly suggests that people who participate in centering prayer be part of a larger faith community, and if possible a centering prayer group. He espouses spiritual direction. The book also espouses what he calls "Divine Therapy" where hurts that are deep within us can be surfaced and healed in a spiritual manner, though he is also careful to state that this is not a replacement of psychological therapy.

This book compliments Keatings other writings and can help the reader come to a deeper understanding of centering prayer and the part it can play in a Christian spirituality.

INTIMACY WITH GOD AN INTRODUCTION TO CENTERING PRAYER
Rating Point :5 Helpful Point :43
INTIMACY WITH GOD by Father Thomas Keating is one of the best books I have ever read about prayer. First and foremost Father Keatings book provided me with a safe haven to feel issues that I have felt since I was an orphan as a young boy. This book gave me affirmation and insight to my feelings about not only who God is but what it means to have a personal relationship with God in a hectic world. As I read this book the little boy in me felt Gods loving arms and presence surround me and I felt an inner peace and excitement in what I was reading. As a Protestant Pastor I would strongly recommend this book by Father Keating to anyone who I may meet for a brother in Christ has written a very sensitive, loving book. If one desires to have a more intimate realtionship with God and not the world then read this book. The worse thing that may happen is you may stop and think about your priorities. By the end of the book you may also be thinking about what has been missing in my life that I need? The best thing is you may feel Gods loving arms and presence in your life as you read and reflect. Reflect on where is God in my life? Maybe its time to take the step and find out! God be with you.

Spiritual formation book
Rating Point :5 Helpful Point :1
Very good. Helps you go deeper with God. Easy to understand. Not too long.

Very Enlightening book for a formerly practicing Catholic
Rating Point :5 Helpful Point :19
I was one of those kids who was forced to go to church every Sunday morning whether I wanted to or not. So Id sit in the pew, kneel, read, listen, etc... for the hour that I had to and then rejoice when I was finally able to leave that place. For me there was no meaning to what I was doing. This book actually brings spirituality to the Catholic Church, something Ive long thought impossible.

Father Keating, who is one of the most spiritual people Ive had the pleasure of meeting, examines the early Christian practices of Contemplative Meditation and how it can help us become connected to God once again. His research goes back to books from the first millenium of the very early Christians, as well as relies on some of the declarations made by the Second Vatican Council.

The similiarities to meditiations practiced in some of the eastern religions is pretty remarkable and these are pointed out. I have some experience with meditating and it struck me as very similiar to Mindful Meditation but there a distinct difference in that there is intent with Contemplative Meditation.

An excellent introduction to a very valuable practice
Rating Point :5 Helpful Point :23
This is another excellent book from Father Thomas Keating and signifies a solid introduction to the theory and practice of Centering Prayer. I encourage anyone who has immersed themselves in any of the wonderful eastern meditational practices, but who have always longed for something similar in a Christian context, to pick this book up and give Centering Prayer a try. This recommendation, though, should in no way dissuade those whose interest and path have been exclusively Christian. For the practice of Centering Prayer, as Father Keating so aptly explains in this wonderful book, is Christian through and through. What impresses me so much about the whole Centering Prayer movement, if one can describe it as such, is that this is not sugarcoated, watered-down, or pie-in-the-sky fluff. Keatings explorations concerning the unconscious and his paradigm of Centering Prayer as Divine Therapy are critical to an understanding of our spiritual and worldly proclivities. How many of us have pondered, along with St. Paul in one of his epistles, why we continue to do those things we wish we didnt, and why we find it so difficult at times to do the things we know we should? Father Keatings expert melding of spiritual and psychological wisdom has updated a centuries-old practice to appeal to our modern era. I owe Father Keating a debt of gratitude for his excellent writings and his tireless work on behalf of Contemplative Outreach. I sincerely hope that you get as much from reading his works as I have.

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