Interesting thoughts, Laura. I hear you about being still before God. There is much noise in this hectic life to distract us from God.

Just out of curiosity, what would you say to those who claim "centering prayers" are a New Age technique? 

I'll let Laura respond in her own way, but can't resist interjecting that there is a long tradition of contemplative Christian practice, out of which have emerged monastic traditions and some great Christian literature.   One way of distinguishing Christ-centered meditation from Buddhist and Yogic (or American "spiritualist") practice is that much Asian philosophy is directed at dismantling the self, escaping worldy entanglement, and ultimately existence itself (though there is a way in which this "non-existence" is seen as an active princlple, not merely non-being).  Whereas Christian meditation at its best is more inclined towards alignment of the self with God's purpose.  It is not an escaping, but a tuning of earthly life to the Holy Spirit's direction.  It does not lead out of suffering, but often towards an acceptance of it.  It points to the cross, not to nirvana.   It does not seek to make one a better or holier person, as in Yogic practice, nor does it seek to make one less of a person, as in Buddhist practice.  It seeks to make the person God made into a more conscious and faithful servant of the Gospel.

None of what I say is meant to deride Eastern philosophy.  I think there is much in Buddhism's understanding of the way the mind works that Christianity tends to downplay.  And there is a gratitude for creation in Native American spiritual practice that Christians might do well to emulate.  And while I see most Yogic philosophy as a call to a kind of self-abnegation that paradoxially glorifies the self, it is a tradition with thousands of years behind it, which can lead some to a place of service and sacrifice that can only be described as emulating Christ even if unintentionally.   But taken as a whole, the goals of the different contemplative traditions are quite distinct.  

My post reads kind of pedantic now to me, sorry if I came off like a smart-%$#.  :o)

I've been collecting stuff for our upcoming the gift of Sabbath series.  I got the following quote in a daily e-mail I get from inward/outward (I highly recommend signing up for a daily dose).

If We Could Do Nothing
If we were not so single-minded
about keeping our lives moving,
and for once could do nothing,
perhaps a huge silence
might interrupt this sadness
of never understanding ourselves
and of threatening ourselves with death.
Source: Pablo Neruda from Keeping Still

Then I heard on NPR - What It Is interview

Do you think God is really somewhere between this silence and uncertainty?  That's certainly counter-intuitive, counter-cultural, hopeful, freeing ...

"There’s a way of relaxing into our center, working much less hard, letting other people have their say, knowing our being is even more radiant at times when we’re in a space of not-doing. When the ego steps back, the power of God can step forward. God can and will, when we allow him to. Too often we feel we’re invisible unless we’re making the cool comment, doing this or doing that. But we’re so much more powerful when surrounded by silence. Taking a deep breath, knowing that what you don’t say can be as powerful as what you do say, thinking deeply about something before making a response—such actions leave room for the spirit to flow, to harmonize your circumstances and move then in a more positive direction. How many times have we felt we’ve blown it simply by talking when we wish we hadn’t or by showing off when we could have just sat there and seemed intriguing—because we were?

God’s spirit will always reveal the truth to us if we simply don’t block his guidance. And we block it by talking first, attitudinally walking ahead of truth. This happens when we push too hard—in a conversation or a project—trying frantically to make things happen, or keep things from happening, because we lack faith in an invisible order of things. That is why the Holy Instant matters: it is a moment of quiet when the spirit enters and makes right all things.

Often it’s better to live in a question until the answer emerges; to be okay with not knowing until wisdom comes; to take a back seat and just listen until you genuinely have something to say. Sometimes it is our silence that testifies to our strength. Our entire being—intellectual, emotional, psychological and spiritual—can relax into a more miracle-receptive mode. When we relax into the arms of God, the mind opens to greater insight and heart to deeper love.