Voices 32: Bill McGiveney, Kentucky

Voices of Grace & Gratitude are joyful expressions of grace and gratitude from the worldwide community of Contemplative Outreach for the gift of Centering Prayer in their lives and its meaning for all creation. During this year of celebration of the 30th anniversary of Contemplative Outreach, a new video will be presented every Monday. May they serve to lift your hearts.

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It was important for me to learn not to judge that 20 minutes – what was going on there. And then that carried over – that lack of judgment that I was trying to foster in my Centering Prayer – it carried over into my judgment about others and about myself. Sometimes we harshly judge ourselves with our expectations. And I began to see that wasn’t important and know that it wasn’t necessarily very good. So, in Centering Prayer, I’ve learned to judge less myself, how I’m doing, and my relationship with God, and doing so, I’ve become less judgmental of others. Sometimes, along the highway, when somebody is beeping behind me, I don’t instantly anymore get those feelings of being offended. Now, it’s just sorta´ like ‘go with the flow.’ Just go with the flow. 


 

Fue importante para mi aprender a no juzgar durante esos 20 minutos – lo que sucedía allí. Y luego eso se continuó – esa actitud de no juzgar que estaba tratando de fomentar en mí la Oración Centrante – se extendió a mis juicios acerca de otros y acerca de mi mismo. A veces nos juzgamos duramente según nuestras expectativas. Y comencé a ver que eso no era importante, y a saber que no necesariamente era muy bueno. Por lo tanto, en la Oración Centrante, he aprendido a juzgarme menos, si estoy o no haciendo las cosas bien, y a juzgar menos mi relación con Dios, y al hacerlo me he vuelto menos crítico de los demás. A veces, cuando voy por la autopista y alguien detrás de mi hace sonar su bocina, ya no tengo inmediatamente esa sensación de sentirme ofendido. Ahora, es como que “sigo la corriente”. Simplemente sigo la corriente.