Below is the printed prayer our
church has requested that we pray daily. The tile of the prayer is, “Exhale."
We
inhale Your love.
We
Exhale our selfish desires. (Breath deep/exhale.)
We
inhale Your peace.
We
Exhale our anxiety. (Breath deep/exhale.)
We
inhale Your love.
We
Exhale our apathy. (Breath deep/exhale.)
We
inhale Your presence.
We Exhale our fear of being known
and the fear to know.
(Breath
deep/exhale.)
We
inhale Your life-sustaining Spirit.
We
Exhale our dependence on all things other than you.
(Breath
deep/exhale.)
For
in exhaling, we are able to
boldly
proclaim, Thy Kingdom Come.
I’m troubled and uncomfortable
with praying this prayer and have questions related to some reading I’ve been
doing.
“It [yoga] teaches one to focus
on oneself instead of on the one true God. It encourages its participants to
seek the answers to life's difficult questions within their own consciousness
…”
~ gotquestions.org
“If
you think, “I breathe,” the “I” is extra. There is no you to say “I.” What we
call “I” is just a swinging door which moves when we inhale and when we exhale.
It just moves; that is all. When your mind is pure and calm enough to follow
this movement, there is nothing: no “I,” no world, no mind nor body; just a
swinging door.”
~ Shunryu Suzuki in Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind.
Clipart from: Cliparts.com
You are wise in being troubled. Clearly this focuses on the self rather than on the Eternal God of our Salvation. Mindfulness meditation from the Theravada tradition: ". . .cultivate noble qualities hidden deep down in our subconscious mind." Yep. All about ME.
ReplyDeleteSalvation by grace alone by faith in Jesus Christ!
It's nice to know the philosopher of the family agrees with me. The first time we said the prayer in church (with the leader dramatically breathing in and out) I just stood with my mouth open. I'm thinking this kind of modernization might not be what our young people need.
DeleteI understand that you are troubled and share that feeling. Perhaps for the same reasons.
ReplyDeleteSecondary Roads, thanks for the affirmation. I try not to be "that critic," but I think the church needs to protect our youth from intermingling of religions.
Delete