Hi Phil,
I don't think you're new age at all.
Stacey and GEB dog Chesley
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Phil Scovell" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, April 07, 2007 2:44 PM
Subject: Be Still and Know
> Rhonda,
>
> Being still has always been difficult for me. It takes some practice.
> Learning how to focus and be still so you can hear God always begins with
> noise, that is, outside noise. That includes everything you mentioned in
> your message. I learned 27 years ago how to do this. At first,
> everything
> is clamoring for attention the second you sit down to be still. Screaming
> is often more like it. The first time I did this, I almost freaked out
> when
> all the noise and clamor slammed into my brain. I told the Lord that I
> would never be able to do what He was asking me to do. He told me to
> wait.
> I did. About 15 minutes later, as I identified the noises individually
> and
> let them fall away, or drift away, things became very quiet for the first
> time in my life. I was on my knees and knealing in front of a chair I
> always used when praying but most of the time I sit in a comfortable chair
> now. God is just on the other side of the noise. Some noise is pretty
> threatening, too, like "You are sick and going to die," or, "Your mate has
> cancer and is going to die," or old memories try and surface to condemn
> you
> and your relationship with God. Let them come and don't focus on any of
> them; just sit there. Practicing this more than once will eventually
> allow
> you to go into a prayerful mode, sort of speak, almost immediately, and
> frankly, at any time or any place, and the second you do, the noise and
> racket bounces off and away almost immediately and suddenly, there is God.
> No, this is in no way eastern meditation techniques. I don't focus on God
> or a flame of a candle or hum ohm to myself or try and create images. I
> don't picture myself on the surface of a plasid pond or lake or ocean and
> slowly sinking to the bottom. I don't picture myself slowly levitating
> into
> the sky to drift aimlessly among the clouds and eventually into and among
> the stars. I don't picture myself in my favorite childhood memory
> playing,
> riding my bike, running with my little dog, or strolling through the woods
> on a gentle path. I could, and I have when I didn't know any better, but
> I
> don't. In fact, if such happens, I immediately mentally defocus away from
> them. I've study eastern religions and practiced, years ago,
> Transcendental
> Meditation, and other eastern new age forms of meditation, and became
> quite
> good at it. In fact, I became good enough that I know now I could have
> easily had and out of body experience, or O B E for short, or what is now
> commonly called astral projection. What I am describing is nothing like
> that. If any image, or unholy thought, attempts coming to mind as I sit
> and
> wait on the Lord, I let my mind immediately go to any of my favorite Bible
> verses. When I let myself unfocus for a second from that verse, I know if
> what I was seeing or hearing is gone. If it isn't, I return to the verse.
> If it is gone, I let myself return to just thinking and that's all this
> is.
> Biblical, or Scriptural, meditation is seeking God and to do that, we must
> be still and wait on Him. As I said, I have learned, in recent years, how
> to allow this to occur on the fly, sort of speak, and it is a definite
> advantage to be able to instantly recognize the voice of the Lord over
> that
> of any other voice because we have lots of voices trying to get our
> attention. So what happens after you cross this noise barrier of every
> day
> life events and circumstances? Good question. You hear God. I know this
> is going to get me in trouble. I reached a point in my prayer life, 27
> years ago, when praying in this manner, that I eventually remained on my
> knees and totally silent and almost motionless for 30 minutes as I
> listened.
> I did it daily for several weeks, maybe months, until I knew God and where
> He was. He is inside of us and His name is The Holy Spirit. What I
> discovered was that everything faded quietly into the background. No, not
> disappeared all together and no, my mind didn't become empty. I
> discovered
> that the only two people who were talking in my thoughts were the Holy
> Spirit and me without all the worldly interference. Don't try this at all
> if you are really upset because sometimes we are really upset naturally,
> that is, our emotions are responding normally to present circumstances,
> and
> since the Lord gave us those emotions, and He has them Himself, He isn't
> expecting us to go into a trance and become devoid of all thought and
> emotion. Besides, that alone is dangerous, spiritually speaking, in the
> first place. This is especially true if you haven't ever heard God's
> voice
> in your thoughts clearly in the first place. So, now that everybody
> thinks
> I am New Age and involved in the eastern art of meditation, I'll stop.
>
> Phil.
>
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