Centering Prayer: Traveling Home Peace

I'm not doing my usual 5 AM first leg home from a Grandboy trip today since my flight doesn't leave Redmond until 3.30, and my Centering Prayer word this morning was God's peace.

It's a different ending to one of these precious visits. Usually I'm up at 4 AM traveling to the airport, having said good bye to the boys the night before.  However, this trip, we had breakfast together, read books, played an ipad game, and I waved them off to day care with blown kisses while still in my pjs.  

I've had the whole morning to myself In Jacob and Lisa's home to putter mode myself ready to travel.  I love being in new places and visiting folks I love, but travel makes me anxious.  Traveling so late in the day makes possibilities for flying surprises increase. This gives me a great opportunity to practice a centered life.  God's peace. 

Devotional reading, centering prayer, and praying my St. Mary's directory, as is my traveling practice.  It's my last time with this directory since we'll publish a new one for St. Mary's Day.  I prayed the names of these treasured people more intentionally, making special note of folks who I haven't seen in a while, folks that I'll invite to be more involved, and folks who I know need updates in the new edition.  

My dear daughter-in-law will be here in a couple of hours to take me to the airport.  The towels and dirty linens are on the washer, and I have only a few last items to pack. My heart is sad, but also full of so much joy and love. Thanks, God.  God's peace. 

The Centering Prayer Project: Grandboy Edition

Austin and I have begun practicing centering prayer at his bed time. Before our very first time on Thursday evening, we chose the sound to begin and end our Quiet Time (three deep gongs), and set the amount time for silent prayer (one minute) using the Centering Prayer app. 

Before we began, we decided what our prayer word would be. Friday night there was an incident while Austin was waiting for me to read him his bedtime stories. I was getting his younger brother, Jonas, to sleep first, and Austin was reading quietly in his room. A big bug flew into his room, and Austin got scared. We talked it through, and he was proud that he was brave. His prayer word that evening, not surprisingly, was Brave God. 

I think that Austin is enjoying watching the prayer time clock decrease on the Centering Prayer app more than he's actually getting the concept of centering prayer, but he's had three nights now where we've had lovely time of quiet prayer together before bed. 

Friday night, after our Quiet Prayer, Austin asked for Prayers (his mom and dad have always done bedtime prayers with the boys), and that's a first. After all the God Blesses, when we talked about what else he wanted to ask God for, he wanted us to pray that the big bug not come back (a bug, by Austins's estimation, as big as his hand with wings, a little stinger, and a name, Sewer). 

God said yes. 

Happy fourth birthday, Austin. 

The Centering Prayer Project

Back when I decided to do something about my crankiness, I decided a good solution would be to make Centering Prayer a daily practice.  To hold myself accountable, I'm using the world of technology. Since I started July 15, I'm posting a photo each day to the Day One Journal of the place where I pray. 

 I'm using another app, Centering Prayer ( from Contemplative Outreach) that allows me set a practice with prayers, chimes, and a timer. 

I'm on my way to Oregon to celebrate me grandson Austin's fourth birthday. I've decided to invite him to join me. He loves technology, so that will be a little incentive.  He and I can set the app up for a prayer time.  More importantly, I've found most little people take to the quiet of centering prayer with more ease than those of riper years. 

So where did I center in prayer today?  On the plane, of course!  (Those are Texas tomatoes in the bag, by the way, that are traveling to Oregon). 

So much laughter

Leaving Little Rock soon, I'm aware how much I've laughed on this trip. Laughed and smiled and laughed some more. 

One of the art installations at the 21c Museum Hotels are penguins made from recycled materials that are portable. There were 200 green penguins at our hotel in Bentonville. They joined us for coffee, meals, outside the door of our room, and in the elevator. 

At dinner in the hotel restaurant, green apple cotton candy is served to all--even if they only get water. They do it because everyone needs joy and a smile. My best friend scored a to go bag at the end of our fabulous dinner.

Here at the airport, I just spotted a group with tshirts--Love God Love Others Change the World. I'm not sure where most of the folks that I met on this trip are with their relationship with God, but I experienced an awful lot of loving others   this trip--with me mostly on the receiving end. 

Thanks, God.  

May I remember this the next time I go into cranky mode. We'll see tomorrow back at St. Mary's. 

The gift of time to read

One big event of this Sabbath trip is that without classes to prepare for or sermons to write, I finished my year plus plan of reading the Bible through in my pretty room at 21C Hotel last night. Many of us in the parish started this project (called the Bible Challenge) on the Feast of Pentecost 2014.  Thanks, God, for this gift of time to have extra time to read your Holy Word. 

Mary Cassatt's The Reader, my favorite painting at Chrystal Bridges.