Book Review: "Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening"

Cynthia Bourgeault, Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening, foreward by Thomas Keating (Cambridge: Cowley Publications, 2004). 178 pp.

Although centering prayer has caught on in many Christian circles, seminaries, and churches since the 1970s, there is much confusion as to how one goes about doing centering prayer and how it is grounded in Christian theology and history. So when my spiritual director recommended Cynthia Bourgeault's, Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening, I thought that it was just going to be another lofty and esoteric book on prayer in general. I had read Nouwen, Merton, and several other masters on prayer; why read another one?

As I started reading Bourgeault's very accessible and user-friendly book during a silent retreat, I discovered just how important this book really is. For one, Bourgeault does not allow readers to get bogged down in either the history or the theology of centering prayer. Rather, she thrusts her readers right into the practice of centering prayer. She makes no apologies: to get the hang of centering prayer, you must make the effort to do it on a regular basis!

The first section (of four) is appropriately titled, "The Method of Centering Prayer." She instructs readers as the practice and nuances of centering prayer by defining centering prayer and then declaring what it is not. This is important because many Christians (Baptists especially) assume that centering prayer is simply New Age or Buddhist meditation in disguise. Christian centering prayer is not rooted in the east, but is rooted in Jewish rabbinic and mystic tradition. Even Jesus declares in Matthew that when one prays, one should go into a prayer closet to pray to God in "secret." Also, Jesus time and again sought solitude as a forum for building and maintaining his relationship with the Father. Prayer of a similar fashion has also been popularized by such Protestant authors as Henry Blackeby in Experiencing God, although his prescription of prayer is far removed than the intent of centering prayer.

Bourgeault insists that true centering prayer is uniquely Christian and grounded in historic Christian theology because it is a type of prayer that aims at reaching into the very heart of God not to get a word from God or a spiritual insight, but to simply rest in quality intimacy with God. Whereas eastern religions seek to empty the soul/mind or to push thoughts that erupt during meditation aside, centering prayer provides space for thoughts and the imagination to work, but recognizes that one must surrender these thoughts before God. The mind is not occupied by these thoughts or distractions. Instead, the pray-er surrenders thoughts to God and refocuses the heart on spending quality time with the Lord. In this way, true centering prayer allows the believer to "take every thought captive before the Lord," but to practice "dying to self" in the process.

She writes: "As a method of meditation, Centering Prayer is founded upon the gesture of surrendering, or letting go . . . During the prayer time itself, surrender is practiced through the letting go of thoughts as they arise. Unlike other forms of meditation, neither focused awareness nor a steady witnessing presence is required. There is no need to 'follow' the thought as they arise; merely to let them go promptly as soon as you realize you're engaged in thinking [is the goal]" (162).

Bourgeault tells one story, originally told by Thomas Keating, of a nun that attempted centering prayer for the first time. The nun was frustrated that she could not concentrate on spending time with the Lord in silence. In the midst of her solitude, she was bombarded by her many concerns and worries. She told Keating that in twenty minutes, she had ten thousand thoughts. Keating was overjoyed, for he believed that she had ten thousand opportunities to return to the Lord!

Returning to the Lord in solitude and silence is the key to centering prayer. To help one "return to the Lord", Bourgeault recommends having a "prayer word" that one uses to remind oneself that they are spending time with God, not being distracted. A prayer word, be it "love" or "God" or "Abba," acts like a red string tied around your finger. Whenever you find yourself wandering in your thoughts during prayer, reciting silently your prayer word will help refocus your heart upon God.

Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening has been one of the most user-friendly guides I have read concerning centering prayer. For all of the questions that I had about prayer, Bourgeault has managed to answer almost every one of them. I highly recommend that you invest in this book if you are interested in truly seeking God in both solitude and silence.