Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening
Reviewed by Cathy McCarthy and others
It was my intention to write a review of
Cynthia’s book until during the Ten Day Post Intensive Retreat here at
St. Andrew’s in Walden, New York. I began listening to many of the
comments from those who have read CP and Inner Awakening, and realized
how much more meaningful it would be if the review came from a variety
of experiences. Their eagerness to share their comments with the reader
says everything about the significance of Bourgeault’s work.
Thanks, Cynthia . . . keep the
challenges coming!!!
~~~
“I especially enjoyed the chapters
on Attention of the Heart. It is in these chapters that Cynthia
reminds us that the heart of Centering Prayer is receptivity and
consent. As we embrace a basic mode of receptivity, we are invited to
consent to God’s love being poured out upon us moment by moment.
Through our willingness to receive God’s love, God’s ongoing process
of healing, purification and transformation continues to unfold as the
heart and center of the spiritual journey.
Bill Sheehan, omi, Lowell, MA
~~~
“Recently, after a period of Centering
Prayer, I found myself pondering the surprising new experience of prayer
that had just taken place. Re-reading Cynthia’s chapter “Spiritual
Non-Possessiveness” helped me hold the experience lightly--letting
go of trying to capture it in words or concepts and simply trusting
God's action in me."
Carol Eckerman, Chapel Hill, NC
~~~
"Reading this book is refreshing
and stimulating. An aspect of Cynthia's reflection and analysis
which I especially appreciate is where she carefully expands the
understanding of Centering Prayer beyond the metaphor of divine therapy
. . .seeing human darkness not as a disease but as the raw material of
our transformation. This perspective sharpens the focus on Centering
Prayer as a particularly powerful form of solidarity and intercession.
For me, one of the great riches of Centering Prayer is that it offers a
way to hold with God the pain of the world while simply surrendering in
trust. Because of Bourgeault's perceptions, I now know why I experience
it that way."
Catherine Gibson, Gaithersburg, MD
