The Welcoming Prayer
Practicing Patience with God
Reflection By Robbin Brent
To welcome and to let go is one of the most radically loving, faith-filled gestures we can make in each moment of each day. It is an open-hearted embrace of all that is in ourselves and in the world.
- Mary Mrozowski, creator of the Welcoming Prayer
Today we’ll explore one spiritual practice that can help us to turn to God when we forget that God is always present and always active in our lives. Thomas Keating wrote that the purpose of this prayer is “to deepen our relationship with God through consenting in the ordinary activities of our day.”
There are three steps to the Welcoming Prayer or Welcoming Practice. It is helpful if we begin by closing our eyes, taking a few deep breaths, and relaxing the body as much as possible. Then,
Simply notice and sink into the feelings, emotions, thoughts, sensations, and commentaries in our body right now.
Accept the divine indwelling in whatever we are experiencing by simply saying, “Welcome.” Whatever we find, we simply greet it with, “Welcome.”
Adopt an attitude of surrender by inwardly affirming the following intention: “I let go of the desire for security, affection, control. I let go of the desire to change the situation.”
In these gestures of radical acceptance, we begin to remove any barriers to the awareness of God’s loving presence in every moment of our lives.
Making it Personal: If you are practicing the Welcoming Prayer for the first time (or are returning to the practice), what was your experience? Were you able to sense God’s presence beneath the current conditions of your life? Do you feel this prayer could help you as you practice patience with God, no matter what is going on in your life in the present moment?
TO JOIN OUR PRIVATE FACEBOOK DISCUSSION GROUP FOR ADVENT, CLICK THE BUTTON BELOW:
Follow along with us this Advent season with our daily devotional and engage in discussion in our closed facebook group moderated by Robbin Brent, Carolyn Karl, Jan Kwiatowski, and Scott Stoner.
In this group, participants will have a chance to share their responses to the prompts in the daily readings, and also the chance to receive additional material for reflection.