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Silence in the City - Young Christian Meditators' Stories

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    In today’s world, our lives are full to bursting.
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    We have ever increasing opportunities for fun, friendship and growth.
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    So why do we sometimes feel empty inside or caught up in worries over the little things?
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    Why does the reality of life seem so far from our childhood imaginings?
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    Why does the divine peace and love we hear so much of, sometimes feel so far away?
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    Everyone needs a place of anchor in their lives. A place of stillness, a peaceful refuge
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    beyond the busyness and worries of day to day life.
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    For many people, Christian Meditation offers just that.
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    An ancient form of silent prayer, it’s incredibly relevant
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    to the busy and preoccupied citizens of the 21st century.
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    Silence in the City Young Christian Meditators´ Stories
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    Giovanni Felicioni: Meditation is a time of prayer which happens
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    without words, without movement, in solitude, where you are at rest, comfortable,
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    easy, relaxed and then, when you have this opportunity to give your attention to something.
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    And the something is in the silence; around you and within you; it’s not a thinking,
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    it’s not a praising or a thanking, it’s a neutral, simple place of anchor that gently teaches
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    you how to be in the present moment... and it’s there that we discover the Moment of Christ.
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    Be still and know that I am God. - Psalm, 46, 10.
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    Celia: My name’s Celia, I’m part of a Christian
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    meditation group in Sydney, Australia.
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    Our group meets each week at a church in Paddington, a busy shopping district.
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    In the center of all that busyness, we make time for silence.
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    We are quite a mixed group, our lives are all pretty different: some of us work, some
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    study and we have all sorts of interests. But when we sit down to meditate, our differences
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    fade away as we share in the silence which connects us to each other and to God.
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    After we’ve listened to some readings, we meditate in silence for 25 minutes.
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    Our practice is based on the internal repetition of a prayer word or mantra. Many people use
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    the Aramaic word MARANATHA, meaning "The Lord or the teacher comes".
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    When repeating the mantra, we don’t think of its meaning, it just helps us focus our
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    attention and be in the present moment.
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    Of course thoughts, of plans for tomorrow or dinner tonight, distract us. The key is
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    to return to the mantra as soon as we realize we are thinking. This is a way to move beyond
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    thoughts, words and imaginings. Through the simplifying silence, we let go of our own
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    plans and priorities and let ourselves to be open to the Divine.
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    Christian meditation was revived some 30 years ago by John Main, a Benedictine monk. He believed
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    that the ancient Christian tradition of meditative prayer should be available to all as a valuable
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    and relevant practice in today’s fast paced world.
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    John Main and fellow Benedictine Laurence Freeman began to teach others this way of
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    prayer by establishing small meditation groups. First in London and then in Montreal, Canada.
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    As groups began to appear around the globe, the World Community for Christian Meditation
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    was formed: an ecumenical monastery without walls.
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    Today our group is one of almost 400 groups in Australia and countless more worldwide.
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    In contemplative prayer we seek to become the person we are called to be. - John Main
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    John Shields: The main reasons why I meditate, really, initially
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    it was to stop the busyness of my life, to really just center myself and to try and be
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    living in the present. I found I was living too much in the future, even in the past at
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    times. I actually meditate on the train before I go to work and also in the afternoon on
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    the train, so I really try and blend the meditation into my lifestyle. It’s my own time which
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    I can spend with God and become closer to Him.
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    Meditation has really helped me in my own work practice, because it helps me to listen
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    and to be... to really be closer to the person who I’m actually helping.
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    I’m really passionate about my triathlons and about keeping fit, because I think keeping
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    fit makes you feel good, gives me a lot of confidence in my life, it gives me structure
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    and also I feel the discipline enables me to really use my time productively. Meditation
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    has helped me in my discipline with my sport.
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    We’re encouraged to meditate for 25 to 30 minutes in the morning and the same in the
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    evening and that’s a big commitment and it actually helps with my sporting commitments.
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    Life is a gift and I’m not here to waste it.
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    Utterly at home, God lives in our soul forever. - Mother Julian of Norwich
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    Claire: My name is Claire. I’m British and currently
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    living in Sydney. When I was growing up, Christianity was all around. My dad was an Anglican vicar,
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    and we lived in a vicarage next to the church. Christianity was there in the kitchen, as
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    my mum prepared for parish lunches, in the garden where we hunted for Easter eggs and
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    in the ringing phone coming from Dad’s study. As a child, I listened to people in church
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    and wondered what prayer was. To me it didn’t make much sense to speak to God as if He was
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    out there somewhere. Growing up, I distinctly remember feeling
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    that God was more inside than outside. As I got older, my questions about God remained,
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    but I put all my energy into trying to make a difference in the world, working on conservation
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    projects and community programs overseas. Despite working in some fantastic places with
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    wonderful people, I often felt unfulfilled.
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    I was upstairs, on a double-decker London bus when a friend first told me about Christian
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    Meditation. I knew then, that this was a missing piece in the jigsaw for me.
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    Learning about the Christian contemplative tradition validated my sense of a God who dwells within.
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    It also helped to me appreciate other forms of prayer and the tradition I grew up with.
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    Through meditating, I know that being is just as important as doing and the action to help
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    others grows out of silence. I love the sense of community and friendship that meditation
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    brings and the new places and people I’ve known because of it. But most of all, I meditate
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    because it’s how I feel closest to God.
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    We are one with the One. We are one with all. - John Main
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    Retreat: meditation & the body
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    Giovanni: The gorgeous thing about meditation is that
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    it gives us this opportunity to be really free, to be playful and to be ourselves. We
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    have this chance to reset everything, instead of having to believe all the things we’ve
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    been told to believe. In meditation it’s a chance to really check, to listen in to
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    God, to really listen to what it sounds like in the silence and what it feels like to be
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    ourselves
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    I mean you are totally and utterly loved, no matter your sexuality, no matter your addictions,
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    no matter what you may have done that you feel has really hurt someone else. All you
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    need to do is to say "I accept that I’m being loved, I totally accept to the bottom
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    of my breath, to the deepest muscle in my body that I forgive myself, that it's beautiful
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    to be me, to be quirky, to have the timbre of my voice or the shape of my body, to be
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    at this moment of my life. And meditation gives us that chance. We’re simply opening
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    to space, to silence, to rest and to presentness.
Title:
Silence in the City - Young Christian Meditators' Stories
Description:

A short film about Christian Meditation by Claire Morgan.
'The young today often feel the pressures and fears of modern life very intensely even as they sense great potential within themselves and hold out hope for our world. This film, with its powerful witness from young Christian meditators, situates these issues in a spiritual and faith context.' - Laurence Freeman OSB, the Director of WCCM
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Video Language:
English
Duration:
10:37

English subtitles

Revisions

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