LISTENING TO GOD. Tools to reduce stress and increase awareness

Transkript

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2 LISTENING TO GOD Tools to reduce stress and increase awareness St. Aidan Press 2014

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4 Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you. Psalm 116:7

5 St. Aidan Press, St. Aidan Press is an imprint of the international Community of Aidan and Hilda Copyright 2015 Øyvind Borgsø Cover image: Jens Friis English translation: NoProblem All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of the author. ISBN

6 CONTENTS Foreword by Ray Simpson 7 Foreword by Øyvind Borgsø 9 MY PATH From gang member to monastic life 14 Living in caves 20 Towards God the most high 31 At home in the body 36 Being aware of God s loving presence 39 AWARENESS TRAINING IN A CHRISTIAN FRAMEWORK Coming home 43 A conscious life in God s presence from moment to moment 50 Being where you are 55 An open attitude with a non-judgmental outlook 70 No worries 76 Stress management 81 Breathing is rooted in love 95 Body prayer 102 Watchful rest 106 Summary 110

7 PRACTICAL TOOLS Introduction exercises 121 Exercise I Thanking God 130 Exercise II - Trusting God 133 Exercise III - Receive love; leave your worries alone 136 Exercise IV - Resting in God s arms 139 Exercise V - God in me, I in God 142 Exercise VI - I open up to you, God 146 Exercise VII - Jesus Christ is here 149 Exercise VIII - Jesus Christ 152 Exercise IX - God the creator 157 Exercise X - Humble worship 161 Exercise XI - Quiet adoration 164 Exercise XII - Praying with the feet 167 Prayer positions 170 The Jesus prayer 176 Bible meditation 182 Labyrinth 190 Awareness training for busy people 194 Programme for longer periods of prayer 204 Programme for a one-day retreat 206 Review of the day 208 Notes from your reflections 211 Bibliography 218 Notes 225

8 Foreword by Ray Simpson The art of listening has almost been lost. It is surely the greatest tragedy that afflicts western civilization. This book will help to restore the years the locusts have eaten (Joel 2:25). There is a shortage of skilled practitioners, because most people have become too busy to do the inner work that enables them to listen with insight. The author of this book, however, is uniquely experienced and gifted. Øyvind Borgsø has advanced from drug addiction and crime to martial arts, an encounter with Jesus in a Syrian cave, and a deep schooling in body-soul prayer. He has learned from whatever is true, noble, right and pure (Philippians 4:8) in holistic traditions of east and west, including the desert Athletes of Christ and contemporary psychosomatic research. This man of prayer gives us the tools to become supple, replete, and to grow in stature. When I was a thirty year old minister a doctor told me that my stomach was as hard as a cricket ball, and that I should learn to destress. Until then I had not known that this was not normal, for my stomach had always been like that. Øyvind teaches us how to destress. He is at home in his body and enables us to be at home in our bodies, which are temples of the Holy Spirit. Prayer means unblocking all the rooms in my body and soul he tells us. He unpacks for us the old adage to pray is to breathe. He writes about nowness, which some of us know as the sacrament of the present moment. Both he and I follow a Celtic Way of Life practiced by The Community of Aidan and Hilda. This encourages a renewal of all kinds of praying (Ephesians 6:18). In sixth century Ireland Kevin of Glendalough lay with his hands stretched out in the shape of a cross during a Lent prayer vigil. They say that a bird laid its egg in the

9 hollow of his hand, and that he lay in that position until the egg was hatched. As we follow the author s trained, practitioner s guidance, see what kind of egg might be hatched in us. Ray Simpson Founding Guardian of the International Community of Aidan and Hilda. White House, Holy Island of Lindisfarne UK.

10 Foreword by Øyvind Borgsø My desire in writing this book is to present some simple tools that can help people to live close to God. These tools are firmly rooted in the faith and practice of the church and show how we can find peace, listen to God and discover a sense of intimacy both in our communication with God, within ourselves, with those around us and with the whole of creation. Meeting young adults Since the Christian faith became a reality within my life, my work has included leading retreats in Norway, Denmark and Syria, leading prayers in Storsalen church in Oslo and being a spiritual director and leadership enabler at Aarhus Bykirke (City Church) in Denmark. Here I have come into contact with many people who have a powerful longing to be able to listen to God and to learn more about how He communicates with us. At the same time, many of them have experienced despair and frustration because they have been unable to find peace and inner tranquillity. Several young people have also come to me with symptoms of burnout. My task in relation to these individuals has been to: Help them find methods for managing stress and to find peace. Provide tools to help them to spend time quietly with God and to listen to God. Help with priorities, with setting boundaries and with processes for increasing personal faith-awareness.

11 Practical resources This book has come into being over a three-year period. One of my main motives for beginning to write was a wish on the part of the course participants for a description of the exercises that we carried out. The theories and tools that I will present here are ones that I have used in connection with courses and retreats, as well as in individual counselling. They have been developed primarily through prayer, meditation, study, movement training and travels within familiar and unfamiliar cultures. I have collaborated closely with theologians, psychologists, physiotherapists, deacons, counsellors, nurses, doctors and leaders of courses and retreats and have been given good guidance during stays at retreat centres and monasteries in Scandinavia and Syria. I have also spent much time studying the prayer practices of the church and biblical connections between prayer and the human body. I have trained as a deacon in Norway and as retreat leader and spiritual director in Norway, Sweden and Syria. I am also a mindfulness instructor. My experience in physical exercises is mostly derived from a five-year study of Qigong and Tai Chi, six years studying martial arts (Taekwondo and Tai Chi), personal therapy and training in Norwegian Psychomotor Physiotherapy and Basic Body Awareness Methodology. Since I have studied Chinese and Korean martial arts, my presentation is influenced by these teachings. We see here that awareness of what we are doing at the time is more important than focussing on the final result. It is easy to lose balance if we focus too strongly on something other than what we are doing at the moment. If we are in the middle of an exercise involving weight transfer that demands balance, it is easy to fall over if we think about tomorrow s dinner party or yesterday s quarrel. Many of the exercises I present in this book are simple. The idea is not to attain a perfect exercise but to train an awareness of what we are doing with a relaxed alertness and wholly upright dignity.

12 Repetition Repetition is important in martial arts. We repeat movements until they become second nature and can become a reflex action when needed, such as in a situation of danger. I have also found repetition to be very useful in my prayer life; it helps me to stay turned towards God. For this reason I use a number of repetitions in this book. The art of repetition is a core element in the spiritual practice of the church, as we read in the Bible: These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. This book should be read meditatively; in other words, read slowly, paying particular attention to whether there is anything that touches you. If there is, you can lay aside the book and spend some time on that issue. Pray about it and see whether God has anything to show you through it. Thanks I wish to thank Frank Tangen, Bodil Vemmelund-Nielsen and Birgit Elmon, for good consultancy help, Ann-Kristin Fauske Mathisen, Hanne Aspelund, Øyvind Lerø, Greta Gramstad, Gert Bols Østergaard, Hilde Sanden-Bjønnes, Anne Marie Jørgensen, Helge Maagaard, Vibeke Lund, Kirsti Nevland and Tore Laugerud for their good suggestions and Stiftelsen Berget, Hellig Kors Kloster and Rögle Kloster for arranging periods in residence for writing. I would also like to thank all the participants in my courses and retreats who over a period of some years have pestered me to produce materials in writing. I am also very thankful to my good advisers. Special thanks to Ray Simpson, the Founding Guardian of the international Community of Aidan and Hilda, and those who were with me at Solåsen and provided support, encouragement and help to develop the exercises: Elizabeth Knox-Seith, Puck Normann, Joachim Grün and Lars Neve. A big thank you also to Ingeborg and Sigmund at Lia Gård, Inger-Marie at Prestegården and Areopagos for help and support with developing

13 and implementing retreat concepts within themes such as nearness and body prayer. I am also deeply grateful to you, my anonymous helper, who taught me as the Norwegian saying goes not to sell the bearskin before the bear is killed. This was a painful lesson. And yes, I lost face, but it made me admit that things are not finished until they are, however much I might wish to be in control of progress. And when things actually are as they ought to be, they are not necessarily the same as I initially envisaged. Thank you, God, for leading an impatient and contrary soul along your path. From you I learned to lay aside the need to trust only in my limited knowledge of how things are and how things are going to be, in order to be able to see how you put everything in its place. Thank you that you never lose patience with me and that you teach me about the joy of trusting you. Thank you.

14 Deep calls to deep. Psalm 42:7

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19 Thomas av Kempis, The imitation of Christ, Random house, 1998 Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace Is Every Step, Bantam, 1992 Tugwell, Simon, Early Dominicans selected writings, Paulist Press, 1982 Ward, Benedicta, Sayings of the desert fathers, Penguin Books Ltd, Norwegian/Danish/German Berg, Signe Malene, Med hovedet i himlen og begge ben på jorden, Unitas Forlag, 2009 Bjålie, Jan G., Haug, Egil, Sand, Olav, Saastad, Øystein V., Menneskekroppen, Universitetsforlaget, 1998 Børli, Hans, Hans Børlis beste dikt, Aschehoug, 2000 Diekstra, René, Sindet og legemet sammenhængen mellem hjerne og krop, Borgens Forlag, 1995 Damsgaard-Sørensen, Katrine, Madsen, Birgit, Stress Når kroppen siger fra, Kroghs Forlag, 2003 Elsass, Peter, Sundhedspsykologi, Gyldendalske Boghandel Nordisk Forlag, 1993 Gade, Anders, Hjerneprocesser kognition og neurovidenskab, Frydenlund, 1997 Grün, Anselm, Gebet als Begegnung, Vier Türme, 2002 Grün, Anselm, Gebet und Selbsterkenntnis, Vier Türme, 2004 Grün, Anselm, Gebetsgebärden, Vier Türme, 1988 Grünenwald, Karin, Ørkenfædrene, Anis Forlag, 2004 Habig, Marion A. (ed.), Budskapet fra den hellige Frans, Verbum, 1988

20 Halldorf, Peter, 21 kirkefedre, Luther forlag, 2001 Halldorf, Peter, Hellige røtter, Luther forlag, 2002 Hallesby Nordheim, Bård Eirik, Kan tru praktiserast? Tapir akademisk forlag, 2008 Hertman, Pater W. (ed.), Frans av Assisi s skrifter, St. Olav Forlag, 1982 Henriksen, Kristoffer, Hansen, Morten, Hansen, Jakob, Gyldendals idrætspsykologi, Gyldendalske Boghandel Nordisk Forlag, 2007 Justnes, Årstein, "Mindfulness og kristen spirituatlitet", Artikkel i Nytt Norsk Kirkeblad 38 nr 8, 2010 Lambert, Willi, Å be i livets pulsslag, St.Olav Forlag, 1999 Lindstrøm, Hans-Erik (ed.), Ord for vandrare Pilgrimsmeditasjoner, Verbum förlag, 2005 Lindstrøm, Hans-Erik, Pilegrimsliv en håndbok for vandrere, Verbum, 2007 Lønnebo, Martin, Veven den store treningsboken for sjelen, Verbum, 2003 Kjær-Hansen, Kai, Studier i navnet Jesus, Aarhus: Menighedsfakultet, 1982 Kronborg, Uffe, Christmystikk om luthersk spiritualitet og helliggørelse, Credo, 2008 Magasinet STREK, Det er i hvilen det skjer om å la seg bære, nr. 4, Strek Media, 2011 Malm, Magnus, Et hjerte større enn verden å følge Jesus i lys av Bergprekenen, Luther forlag, 2009 Malm, Magnus, Veivisere en bok om kristent lederskap, Luther forlag, 1991 Mases, Per, Den indre hage, Efrem Forlag, 2008 Mases, Per, Sköndal, Eva, Den inre trädgården : öppen mot himlen, Artos & Norma Bokförlag, 2010 Mirdal, Gretty M., Psykosomatik Sårbarhed, stress og sykdom, Munksgaard, 1990

21 Mother Teresa, Den enkle vej, Borgen Forlag, 1997 Norsk Salmebok, Verbum, 1985 Olsen, Harald, Ilden fra vest, Verbum, 1999 Olsen, Harald, Ørkenvind, Verbum, 2008 Peterson, Eugene H., The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language Pilgrim nr. 1, Bokforlaget Cordia, 2004 Rahner, Karl, Åndelige øvelser, St. Olav forlag, 2002 Rubenson, Samuel, Et Odelat Hjärta en studie i Økenfädernas vishet, Artos, 1984 Rubenson, Samuel, Örkenfädernas tänkespråk, Cordia, 2001 Rubenson, Samuel, Är inte kroppen mer än kläderna!?, Pilgrim nr.1, Bokforlaget Cordia, 2004 Sky, Arne, Bønneskole, Luther forlag, 2004 Stinissen, Wilfrid, en bok om kristen dypmeditasjon, Verbum, 1994 Stinissen, Wilfrid, Fader i dine hender, Atheneum, 1994 Stinissen, Wilfrid, Lenger inn i bønnens landskap, Luther forlag, 2002 Stinissen, Wilfrid, Navnet og nærværet, Verbum, 1999 Stormark, Jarle, kropp og identitet og håpet om nyskapelse, Det teologiske fakultet, UIO, 2008 Søvik, Oddvar, Bønn framfor alt, Genesis, 2006 Tynnemark, Virve, Smak og se stillhetsarbeid i menigheten, Diakonissehuset Lovisenberg, 2006 Wikström, Owe, Det blendende mørket, Luther forlag, 2008 Zachariae, Bobby, Den tænkende krop essays om biologi, psykologi og sundhed, Rosinante, 2000 Aasmundstveit, Sven, Atleter for Christ, Verbum, 2010

22 May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face; the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand. Irish Blessing

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