A meditation group is being established in the parish at the moment.
The group meets every Wednesday at 7:30 PM in the Madge Vinnell Centre, located at the back of the Op Shop at 7 Anzac Street Moe.
The groups last meeting for this year is this Wednesday 11th December at 6pm. It will be in recess until early January. The recommencent date will be announced this week.
The group has three basic aims:
- to provide an opportunity for people to learn how to meditate either through individual instruction or in the group or both.
- to develop a group that explores Christian meditation through reflecting upon teachings on the practice both within the Christian tradition and other traditions that teach the practice.
- through sitting in silence together for a time, being in the presence of God and reflecting on faith issues.
The Group, as it is forming at the moment, has people who have experienced meditation in various faith traditions and practices. The group is facilitated by the Rev Bruce Charles , a retired priest in the parish, who has practised and studied meditation from various faith traditions and cultures for over 50 years.
Currently, we are exploring two basic practices. One focussing on the breath, on breathing. repeating other on repeating a Word or phrase with the breathing practice or instead of.
A booklet on prayer and Meditation will be available shortly on this site. At the moment it is going through a revision based on Bruce’s current research.
Meditation is a term used in our current secular society for all the various practices of ‘Mindfulness’ or other similar practices that focus on stilling the mind and experiencing deeper levels of our self.
In Christian traditions, has been described in various ways and particularly as ‘Silent Prayer’ or ‘Prayer of the Heart’. It has also generally described a deep reflective process on passages of Scripture.
At the moment, the Group’s format is:
- Begins with catching up on our journey in the past week
- Reflects up teachings related to Faith, Prayer and Meditation
- Shares a period of Silence
- Listening to and being in the Presence of God
- Concludes with discussion on anything that a member of the group wants to share from the time of Silence
As the Psalmist says:
“Be still, and know that I am God!” Psalm 46:10
“commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still” Psalm 4:4
