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This week Pastor Steve launched our advent series walking through how we can prepare for the coming of Jesus by connecting our journey to Mary's journey, one of simple submission. It ended with a challenge to centering prayer, please find a description for centering prayer below that can guide you this Christmas Season.

Centering Prayer This form of prayer finds its roots in Lectio Divina. It moves us and helps us prepare to contemplate the gift of God’s presence with us. It is founded on our relationship with God, through the life of Jesus and it nurtures our relationship with God so that we are aware of God’s presence more readily in our daily life. Centering prayer is not meant to replace other modes of prayer but instead works to support our more verbal, or affective prayers. The primary focus is for us to grow in our relationship with God and move beyond conversation with God and into simple restful communion. It is recommended that you engage in this practice a couple times a day, for twenty minutes each time you enter in. If you are not accustomed to silence, we want to invite you to build your way up to twenty minutes, starting with 10, and slowly adding time until twenty minutes seems not long enough for this restful prayer. It is our hope that centering prayer would deepen your relationship with the Divine, an awareness of the Triune God, Father, Spirit and Living Son. We also hope that through these practices you grow to know God’s heart and your heart for God’s people would help to expand into communities of love and support.

Instructions • Quiet Your Mind - Close your eyes, be still and open yourself up to God’s presence. Make sure you are comfortable and centre yourself in silence. Become aware of your backbone, and sit up in a way that your head is high and your chest is open so that you can be aware of your Head, Heart and Body, with your hands rested in your lap. • Consider - a sacred word, an image or focus on your breath. Each time you feel yourself getting distracted use your sacred breath, image or word to recenter yourself of God’s presence. It is important to be gracious with yourself, it doesn’t matter how often you use your sacred word, it brings you back to an awareness of God. • Open - yourself and allow God to be with you, allow God to just be within you, give your undivided attention and love to God. • Refocus - Whenever you notice your thoughts pulling yourself in another direction use your sacred word to recenter inwards towards God. • Give Thanks - As your prayer time comes to a close, give thanks to God for just being with you, and slowly transition back to your everyday activities.