Transformed By Christ Ministries

Art Day has been cancelled for tomorrow.

“We need our hearts to be made incandescent by the Spirit’s fire. We need the living water and new wine Jesus promised, so our hearts can become the home of dovelike peace….
When we open up space for the Spirit and let the Spirit fill that space within us, we begin to change, and we become agents of change…. So let us open our hearts. Let us dare believe that the Spirit that we read about in the Scriptures can move among us today, empowering us in our times so we can become agents in a global spiritual movement of justice, peace, and joy.” Brian McLaren

Why I Meditate
Spiritual director Therese DesCamp reflects on her commitment to a contemplative practice:
I don’t meditate to improve my mental acuity. I don’t meditate to slow down the effects of aging. I don’t meditate to lower my blood pressure, reduce my stress, or improve my frame of mind. I don’t meditate to be a better Christian. Sure, all those things can be byproducts of my meditation practice. But that’s all they are, byproducts….
I meditate because I am, in a sense, blind without it. Without the surrender inherent in my practice, I lose my deepest vision, my insight. I lose the ability to see myself and the world with compassion, the forgiveness, and humility of God.
Here are some other thoughts about my practice: I do not meditate to have insights or mystical experiences. My practice is not measured by how I feel or what I experience when I sit in place for a twenty-minute session. The true test of my practice is my behavior the other twenty-three-plus hours of the day.
A practice is just that: a practice. By definition, a practice gets me ready to do something else. One person practices scales on the piano so she can play a concerto beautifully. Another practices French so that he can converse easily. I practice Centering Prayer so that when life is coming apart at the seams, I remember how to stand steady. I practice Centering Prayer so that I can learn how to stand aside and let God work in and through me.…
Meditation practice can turn me into a sponge. The true nature of a sponge is that it gathers up water and it releases water. It does not hold onto, own, or create water…. In meditation, I am filled with the grace of God, the flowing waters of life. (If I am lucky, I will actually experience this in some way. But whether I consciously experience that grace or not, it is always true that I am filled with it.) Hence, the only goal I can truly name for my meditation practice is this: to let myself be filled, over and over, so that I can act as a streaming, saturated sponge, leaking Love in a dry and dusty world.