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I think there's a bit of crossover with prayer so it wouldn't be fair to give you flak because of the association. For example, if you're reciting a typical pra

by jwdunne 12y ago

I think there's a bit of crossover with prayer so it wouldn't be fair to give you flak because of the association. For example, if you're reciting a typical prayer, e.g the Our Father, you're focusing your mind on one thing. To dedicate to the prayer, you can't just shut other thoughts out, you must acknowledge and return to the prayer. I can some of the same benefits. In free flow prayer, I guess you're also acknowledging thoughts as they come and focusing on doing that. These may be thoughts that come from deep-seated emotions, perhaps thoughts that you typically wouldn't or couldn't discuss with others. I don't practice meditation religiously, nor do am I dedicated to prayer, but I have done both and both have been therapeutic. It seems wrong to find fault in what you're doing because of your beliefs when the process is essentially very similar, if not the same.

milesf 12y ago
I know Christianity is a very touchy subject for many people. It's easy to find lots of examples of the gulf between orthodoxy and orthopraxy in many people's lives. But I'm not so much interested in where a person is at in their lives, as much as I'm interested in the delta - the change - over time. Prayer, over time, changes me. I need to change. C.S. Lewis was a hero of mine. An Atheist for a good chunk of his life, he became a Christian and went on to write a lot of great stuff. The fact that he and J.R.R. Tolkien were friends is pretty cool too :)
- philsnow 12y ago
  G K Chesterton was also a convert (edit: to Catholicism) and extremely prolific writer, be sure to check out his work if you haven't had a chance yet. I re-read Manalive every year or so.
philsnow 12y ago
The Hail Mary and, by extension, the Rosary, are often considered "meditative prayer" because the Hail Mary is so short that its recitation becomes muscle memory after only a short while.

by jwdunne 12y ago

milesf 12y ago

I know Christianity is a very touchy subject for many people. It's easy to find lots of examples of the gulf between orthodoxy and orthopraxy in many people's lives. But I'm not so much interested in where a person is at in their lives, as much as I'm interested in the delta - the change - over time. Prayer, over time, changes me. I need to change. C.S. Lewis was a hero of mine. An Atheist for a good chunk of his life, he became a Christian and went on to write a lot of great stuff. The fact that he and J.R.R. Tolkien were friends is pretty cool too :)

philsnow 12y ago
G K Chesterton was also a convert (edit: to Catholicism) and extremely prolific writer, be sure to check out his work if you haven't had a chance yet. I re-read Manalive every year or so.

philsnow 12y ago

The Hail Mary and, by extension, the Rosary, are often considered "meditative prayer" because the Hail Mary is so short that its recitation becomes muscle memory after only a short while.