Centering Prayer and Prayer Shawls: Connecting with God

Listen here:

0:01: Intro

2:27: Introduction to interview with Rev. Rob Carr; origin and method of Centering Prayer; Contemplative Outreach

4:21: Rob Carr on the "first half of his spiritual life"; taught to question and explore; Christian faith was an intellectual exercise

7:35: Rob Carr on "the seed of the mystical"; out of the "head" and toward the "heart"; exposed to Richard Foster, Henri Nouwen, Frederick Buechner, Kathleen Norris, Gerry May, Desert Fathers, John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, Thomas Merton

9:58:  Rob Carr on his transformative "prayer dream" of following Jesus in first century Palestine; 

15:10: Rob Carr on Mary of Bethany sitting at Jesus' feet; offering presence and openness to Jesus

17:22: "There is nothing more crucial than holding Jesus' gaze"

18:30: Rob Carr on the effects of Centering Prayer on his life; "God has quieted me"; anger is a choice not a reaction; expanded sense of interior freedom and spaciousness

21:18: Rob Carr on the Fruit of the Spirit; Fruit of the Spirit as "capacity"

22:40: Rob Carr answers the charge that Centering Prayer is selfish; the risk of burn out

26:10: Rob Carr on the posture of John the Baptist; "I must decrease, he must increase"

27:17: Rob Carr on the mystery of the "new creation"

28:05: Introduction to interview with Janet Bristow of The Prayer Shawl Ministry

28:35: Janet Bristow on the definition of a prayer shawl

29:18: Janet Bristow on the practice and theology of making a prayer shawl

30:35: Janet Bristow on the grassroots development of The Prayer Shawl Ministry; graduated from The Women's Leadership Institute with Miriam Therese Winter

33:33: Janet Bristow on an "embodied spirituality"; everything is circular and relational

34:50: Janet Bristow on a comparison with traditional "masculine" spirituality; "As a woman you know there's something else, too"

36:17: Janet Bristow on blessing a shawl

37:37: Janet Bristow on the need to center one's self

39:05: Janet Bristow on the similarity of experiences on the part of the shawl recipient; a sign that God is with us; he practice as a sacrament

42:28: Janet Bristow on the way her understanding of prayer has changed, The Prayer Shawl Ministry has enhanced my understanding of prayer

43:49: Janet Bristow on the contrast of shawl making and Centering Prayer, its good to keep a journal

45:39: An "open letter" to the "Confessing Church Movement" from the Rev. James McLeod

56:52: Outro; promo for next week's show with progressive Quaker singer/songwriter Carrie Newcomer and her new CD, The Geography of Light

(image: "Prayer Tree" by alistairas)