Music Practice
Music practice, like Centering Prayer, attempts to bring us to a point of deep awareness, a place where thoughts are set aside so that we may rest in the divine presence. In Centering Prayer, a sacred word or mantra is used to signal that our intent in the time of meditation is to be in God's presence. In music practice, it is not a word that we use to call us back to our intent, but a note. When we are engaged in the practice and find our minds wanting to impose their endless cacophony of thoughts on us, we simply return to the notes that linger and roll around us like a refreshing mist on a hot day. We’re not trying to listen to the music to feel it as a stimulus. Instead, we are letting the notes be the means for leading us down, down, down into ourselves and God.
—From Strength for the Journey: A Guide to Spiritual Practice
Written and read by Renée Miller
Photography by Diane Walker
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