Deep Calls unto Deep

In his book, "Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life," Richard Rohr reveals a truth we need to hear:

"No one oversees their own demise willingly, even when it is the false self that is dying. God has to undo our illusions secretly, as it were, when we are not watching and not in perfect control, say the mystics. We move forward in ways that we do not even understand and through the quiet workings of time and grace, as “deep calls unto deep” (Psalm 42:8). In other words, the Spirit initiates deep resonance and intimacy with our spirit, as the endless divine 'yes' evokes an ever-deeper 'yes' in us."

Our 'yes,' our consent, begins in God and it becomes our 'yes.' And it goes on beyond us and becomes the 'yes' of humanity. We are consenting to God not only for ourselves but for the whole human family.

Father Thomas Keating says it this way, "Whoever is committed to the higher states of human consciousness, or the transformative process, ... has said yes to the invitation to all humanity and hence is contributing to the healing of all the ills of humanity, whether we know it or not."

In Centering Prayer, we close the door on our exterior lives and allow God to soften us and tenderly mend and heal all the brokenness, pain, and bitterness in our lives and in all humanity.

Both Fathers Keating and Rohr speak of God healing us without our knowledge. God works in secret because, as Rohr says, we will not willingly submit to a self-emptying that is essentially dying to ourselves. We must come into the inner room and close the door, as Jesus taught his disciples, and then God works secretly, beyond our knowing, to transform our deepest self.

Our inner room becomes an echo chamber where God's 'yes' finds a resonance within us and becomes our 'yes'. When we enter the inner room - our interior being or consciousness - it may seem a tight, enclosed space, like a closet or vault, but over time its dimensions disintegrate and we begin to perceive a spacious vastness that far exceeds our personal limits.

What is this divine healing that happens during Centering Prayer? According to Keating's description of the divine healing process, there are four "moments" that occur during our continuing practice of Centering Prayer: first, intention to consent; second, interior rest; third, unloading of repressed emotional trauma; and fourth, evacuation of thoughts or feelings or state of utter distress.

By answering God's call to "be still and know that I am God," we are submitting ourselves to His mysterious healing process, which does not require any further intention - beyond consenting to God's action within us - nor any conscious awareness on our part.

Blaise Pascal, the French philosopher and mystic, said centuries ago, "All of humanity's problems stem from [our] inability to sit quietly in a room alone." Keating and Pascal are both suggesting the same solution to humanity's ills: make a habit of spending time in solitude, surrendering to the silence and simply allowing the unknowable divine healing of our mind, body, and spirit.

In our time of Centering Prayer, we consent to God's healing grace, which takes away our deeply hidden pride, vanities, jealousies, hatreds, and prejudices that undermine our ability to love others with a full heart. It is as if we lie down on the operating table and breathe deeply of the divine anesthesia, which enables God to probe our deepest depths and extract the cancerous growths within us: our devious desires, our obsessive and compulsive behavior, our addictions, our grudges and broken relationships, our depression.

This is not a one-time operation. In most of us, these cancerous tumors have metastasized, spreading throughout every part of our self. The healing process may take the rest of our lives. We must rest in God's presence daily while he lovingly tends to our healing, making us whole as we surrender all to Him. Thus, Centering Prayer is a life-long practice.

During our intentional time of communing with Christ, we submit ourselves to God's presence and healing power that works in secret within and beyond us, trusting in Christ's penetrating love to overcome the collective ailments of all humanity.

Deep calls unto deep. In the return echo of God's call, your individual consent becomes the consent of all, the acceptance of God's invitation to all humanity. The healing of humanity depends on our soul surrender to God in silence.