I had the privilege of living, working and spending time with Mother Teresa in Calcutta, India. I also had the sacred opportunity to work with Northern Ireland's Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Mairead Maguire. Both of these women exuded peace and a profound ability to be present. When I was in their presence, it was if I was with my Italian grandmothers, I was the only person that mattered. It seems that both Mairead and Mother Teresa had an uncanny ability to be fully present to whomever they were with, all the time. Of course, I had to ask each of them, "What's your secret, how do you do it?" Without hesitation, both women responded with one word, "Prayer."
In the midst of the business of our lives, I have found that it can be extraordinarily difficult to find or make time for silence. When I do get quiet and take the time for prayer and meditation, it makes a profound difference. I am more focused, more compassionate and more present. As a teacher and professional who works with inner-city high school students and community leaders in Newark, NJ and college students in New York, I find that people are hungry for silence and prayer. It provides an opportunity to stop and pay attention to the deepest longings and desires of our hearts. It helps us connect to our most profound truth, our most authentic selves, who we are called to be, what we are called to do in the world; and it helps facilitate healing.
Dr. Mitchell Gaynor, President of Gaynor Integrative Oncology (www.drgaynor.com) and Clinical Assistant, Professor of Medicine at Weill Medical College, affiliated with Cornell University and New York Hospital, has pioneered new strategies for both the treatment and prevention of cancer. He is the author of numerous scientific papers and three books: Healing Essence (Kensington Health 2000), Dr. Gaynor"s Cancer Prevention Program (Kensington Health 1999), and The Healing Power of Sound (Shambhala 2002). His work integrating meditation, and other alternative practices, into his mind, body, spirit holistic approach to treatment has been proven to complement and enhance traditional western medical practice in a way that can help patients fight disease. His secret? He invites patients to engage in age-old transformative practices utilized by spiritual leaders from all of the world's great traditions, including prayer and meditation.
Author C.S. Lewis said that "the present is the point in time which most closely touches eternity." Prayer and mediation help connect us with the present eternal moment, the moment which in turn enables us to focus on, and listen to, more deeply the needs of others. Pythagoras, Ionian Greek philosopher and founder of the religious movement called Pythagoreanism, said that silence is the music of the universe. If one is still, standing on the earth that is in motion, spinning on its axis and revolving around the sun, one experiences lyric, transcendent silence. The result can be a profound sense of connectedness to the present and ones present place in the world and universe.
Thus, with Mairead, Mother Teresa, Dr. Gaynor, C.S. Lewis, Pythagoras and all spiritual seekers of truth, I invite you to make time for prayer and meditation. I pray that in this way you will be more compassionate and more present to your heart's healing, lyrical desires.
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