Meditation

Let me start by saying meditation has changed my life.  Like journaling, I had spent many years trying to “quiet” my mind but like many, I had been unsuccessful and was easily discouraged.  Luckily for me, several years ago, my parish invited a Franciscan friar by the name of Fr. Justin Belitz to give a presentation during the season of Lent.  Over the span of several days, he discussed how the human mind works and the importance of meditation.  During his visit, he played a different guided meditation CD each evening and encouraged us to participate in order to quiet our minds.  After each presentation, there were books and CDs available for purchase and of course, I was inspired to purchase a book and a CD.  While I read the book immediately, the CD took a little longer to use on a consistent basis.

One thing I have to say about my meditation practice is that it DID NOT become consistent until I took a step to be accountable.  What do I mean by this?  Well, after reading Fr. Justin’s book, I noticed that he gave guidelines for starting a parish-based meditation group.  I was inspired to approach my pastor to ask if I could start a meditation/reading group.  His response, I’ll never forget, was “absolutely, unequivocally YES!”. I credit my pastor at that time for the progress of my spiritual journey.  How could I lead a meditation group if I wasn’t going to meditate consistently myself?  That’s what I mean by being accountable.

I cannot say that meditation is easy or that I am not distracted often during my meditation, but I CAN say that regular meditation, twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening for at least ten minutes has changed the way I function on a regular basis.  One word:  PEACE!