Further Thoughts on: The Highway to Prayer

October 10, 2004

The Rev. Dr. Anthony J. Godlefski, Pastor

Montgomery United Methodist Church

I’d like to answer some questions about last week’s sermon that some of you have shared with me. The drawing below suggested itself to me as I thought about our sermon from last week.

I’m hoping that it will be a help to you as you think about the meditation technique that we talked about. If you weren’t here last week or you need a refresher, it is available at www.montgomeryumc.org (look up last week’s sermon) or check your Visions of Hope email from last week, and you’ll understand this drawing.

As you see, the meditation words are “God is Love”. We bounce back and forth between God and is. Between those words is a door, and I invite you to fly through that door in a state of meditation and uplift.

What do you do if you have distracting thoughts during the meditation? It’s very simple. You acknowledge it. You say, “Oh, look at that, a distracting thought.” You pat it on the shoulder and you say, “I’ll catch up with you later.” And then you go back to your meditation state. Do this for as many distracting thoughts as come your way. It really works.

Have I used this technique myself? Yes, I have. Not nearly as much as I intend to and want to, but I have used it a good deal. The results are remarkable. First of all, when you use this technique and you fly through that open door and exist in this wordless state, just embraced by the love of God, interesting things happen within you. You become very calm. The blood pressure goes right down. There is a rest that takes place in your nervous system that is absolutely wonderful. In one of these sessions, I found that I  was not asleep at the end of the session, but I was very, very well-rested. So, for those of you who are stressed and uptight, I certainly recommend this technique. You might picture this drawing in your mind as you go through this meditation time.

God bless you.