Gathered by Christine Eaton, attempting to capture the collective movement of the Spirit

From the introduction circle
on Friday evening:
Gratitude, peace, yes, wow
Welcome, blessings, compassion, joy
Oneness, kindness, stillness, spirit
Quiet, still, nature, seek silence
Open, listening, community, presence
Hope, grace, love, overflowing
Thank you, all is well, abundance
Multiplication, and Beloved

From Pamela's opening talk:
Spaciousness, freedom, chosen, known, goodness

And from the closing conversation:
Delight, courage, heart, strengthening
Faith, faithfulness, wisdom

Above all, trust in the slow work of God.

We are quite naturally impatient in everything
to reach the end without delay.

We should like to skip the intermediate stages.

We are impatient of being on the way to something
unknown, something new.

And yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through
some stages of instability--
and that it may take a very long time.

And so I think it is with you;
your ideas mature gradually—let them grow,
let them shape themselves, without undue haste.

Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances
acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.

Only God could say what this new spirit
gradually forming within you will be.

Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.

(From Pamela Begeman's presentation at the 2019 MN Contemplative Outreach Fall Retreat)

Guidelines for Christian Life, Growth and Transformation

1. The fundamental goodness of human nature ... is an essential element of Christian faith. This basic core of goodness is capable of unlimited development; indeed, of becoming transformed into Christ and deified.
2. Our basic core of goodness is our True Self. The center of gravity is God. The acceptance of our basic goodness is a quantum leap in the spiritual journey.
3. God and our True Self are not separate. Though we are not God, God and our True Self are the same thing.

~ Thomas Keating, from Open Mind, Open Heart

From Pamela Begeman's presentation at the 2019 MN Contemplative Outreach Fall Retreat

The fundamental practice for healing the wounds of the false-self system is to fulfill the duties of our job in life. This includes helping people who are counting on us. If prayer gets in the way, there is some misunderstanding. Some devout persons think that if their activities at home or their job get in the way of praying, there is something wrong with their activities. On the contrary, there is something wrong with their prayer.
~ Thomas Keating, The Mystery of Christ

From Pamela Begeman's presentation at the 2019 MN Contemplative Outreach Fall Retreat

"Perhaps it is easy enough to understand that God can be grasped in and through every life. But, can God be found in and through every death, every diminishment? This is what disconcerts us, and yet, this is what we must learn to recognize. […] The forces of diminishment are possibilities. Their number is vast. Their forms infinitely varied. Their influence constant. There is a time of growth, and a time of diminishment in the lives of each one of us. All of these attitudes spring from the same inner orientation of the mind. From a single law, which combines the two-fold movement of the natural personalization of a man, a woman, and their supernatural, depersonalization in Christ."
~ Teilhard de Chardin

From Pamela Begeman's presentation at the 2019 MN Contemplative Outreach Fall Retreat

"Since [Centering Prayer] is not only pleasant, but also purifying, do not be surprised by the ups and downs of our subjective experience and just accept what happens. This is when you truly consent in practice. You are giving away any control whatsoever over the results of what you are doing. It is allowing that consent to be purified by the Spirit, who will send into your life inwardly and outwardly the people, teaching, or trials that you need. The bottom line … is to place all our trust in God and in [God's] determination to bring this about because of [God's] immense, gratuitous love for us."
~ Thomas Keating, God is Love: The Heart of All Creation

by Robert F. Tredray

Repeatedly, the Scriptures assure us that God will exalt the humble. St. James says, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and God will lift you up.” St. Peter says, “humble yourselves, therefore ... that God may lift you up in due time.” But if we “humble ourselves” in order to be lifted up, is that really humility at all? Is it not rather a subtle form of arrogance?

Perhaps I am imagining a difficulty where none exists, but I think this is a real danger. I doubt that we can be humble if our attention is fixed on the expectation of future exaltation. I would ask, “What does it mean to 'humble oneself'?” Is that something we can do, an action we can take? I think not. Isaiah says that the Lord “looks with favor” on “those who are humble and contrite in spirit.” And Jesus says, “I am gentle and humble in heart” [emphases added].

So I think that humility is an attitude, not a behavior; it is not an action, but a state of being. If so, then following a set of rules—St. Benedict's or anyone else's—is not in itself humility. What matters is where we focus our attention; it must not be focused on ourselves. Following the rule (or any other behavior) may be conducive to the development of a humble state of mind—or, better, of heart. In the same way, Centering Prayer is not in itself Contemplation, but may be conducive to the contemplative state. The author of The Cloud of Unknowing tells us that Contemplation can only be had by means of Grace. Can we say the same of humility? And can we not go further, and say that neither humility nor contemplation is Salvation, but both may be conducive to our receiving Salvation by Grace?