Meditation Archives - Page 18 of 19

I’ve learned that an attitude of gratitude is transforming. An attitude of gratitude truly helps me to remain joyful in good times and unfazed and peaceful during trying times. I haven’t always possessed this attitude of gratitude. Do I fall short at times? Of course I do – but there is a sense of awareness that comes with the attitude that brings me back to my center much quicker than before. The various practices I write about in this blog have helped me to cultivate the attitude of gratitude and keep me focused on the positive. Meditation and contemplation on the Word have especially helped.

I read somewhere that the result of meditation on the body and mind can be likened to a movie screen – you can play different movies on the same screen and the screen itself remains unchanged. In other words, through meditation we become centered and whole, so much so that NOTHING can change us, nothing can affect us! Isn’t that encouraging?

Here’s a little something on gratitude I found (I couldn’t have said it better myself):

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance; chaos to order; confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow. – Melody Beattie

Click here to watch a moving video on gratitude shared in Vision and Viewpoin t, a weekly e-newsletter by Joan Chittister one of my favorite spiritual writers.

I hope you are inspired to try meditating! Peace be with you.

Someone recently shared with me an awesome app – it’s called Pray as you go and it’s free. You can get it on your iPhone, ipad and I believe any other “smart” device. As I was navigating through the app, I came upon a section called Imaginative Contemplation Exercises. I was so excited to see it because I remembered the first time I did an exercise like that – it was in my old parish during a women’s retreat – the nun in charge asked us to close our eyes and imagine being in the story she was about to read. It was the Road to Emmaus – and as I sat with my eyes closed, listening to the story, imagining myself in the story, the tears began to fall down my face because I truly felt the presence of Christ! What an experience.

So if you are interested in growing closer to God and feeling the presence of Christ, I would definitely recommend that you download this app onto your mobile device. There are many more resources attached to the app as well. Take a look. If you do not have a mobile device or do not wish to download the app, you can access the website here. I would recommend taking a look at the website even if you do download the app because there are so many more resources that will help you go deeper in your relationship with God. If you would like to access the contemplation exercises directly from the website click here.

I’m so excited to be sharing this information with you. If you have a chance to check it out, let me know what you think!