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The Summer 2016 issue includes "A Spiritual Solution" by Linda Kaye, "Tuning In" by Liz Watson, The Present Moment by Laurence Freeman (an exerpt), several testimonies, and more.
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Summer 201 6
A SpiritualSolutionLinda Kaye
My name is Linda Kaye and I
am a recovering alcoholic
addict. My home is in Atlantic
Beach, Florida and I am the Director
of The Neptune Beach Center, which
opened in the fall of 2009. It is part
of The World Community for
Christian Meditation. The Neptune
Beach Center is nonprofit and
operated exclusively by volunteers.
We offer Christian meditation seven
days a week, several times a day,
along with monthly programs,
retreats and workshops. People of all
faiths, no faith, agnostic or atheist —
all are welcome to join us in silence,
stillness and simplicity.
Christian Meditation as an 11th Step
Practice came about after Fr.
Laurence Freeman asked me if I
would help organize a website for
people in recovery. I had been
meditating in the Christian
meditation tradition for about five
years and had been giving
meditation workshops and retreats
with my spiritual director, Sister
Elizabeth Hellmann. It wasn’t
through any virtue of mine that this
outreach program came about. It
was because I had a need, a thirst,
and found that there were many
others in recovery like myself, now
sober for decades, facing depression
and anxiety. Many were being over
medicated and found themselves on
the merrygoround of addiction
that led many of them back out to
the “gates of insanity” and death.
I would like to clarify that I do not
represent any 12step program, nor
am I a drug and alcohol counselor. I
am simply an alcoholicaddict who
has found a way to not only stay
sober, but to be restored to life as a
useful member of society — the
Inside
A Spiritual Solution 1
Tuning In 2
The Present Moment 2
Testimonies 3
The Neptune BeachCenter 4
society that rejected me and that I
rejected. (Alcoholics Anonymous)
We have, as a result of living the
spiritual principles of the 12 steps,
what are called “The Promises”:
We will know a new freedom and
a new happiness. We won’t regret
the past nor wish to shut the door
on it, we will comprehend the
word “serenity” and we will
know peace.
We are all in need of the power of
love that will restore us to
wholeness and bring us to
fullness of life. The addictions to
drugs and alcohol are
heartbreaking, but it is the
socially acceptable and less
obvious ones that lure the addict
into painful compulsions in
‘sobriety’ addictions to money,
power, prestige and the need for
approval amongst many. John
Main speaks to this life of
superficiality so profoundly: The
real tragedy of our time is that we
are so filled with desire, for
happiness, for success, for wealth,
for power whatever it may be
that we are always imagining
ourselves as we might be. ◊
Christian Meditationas an1 1 th Step Practice
Mission Statement:
We are a group of men and women from 12step programs, following the teachings of John
Main and The World Community for Christian Meditation. We are not a replacement for,
nor are we affiliated with, any 12step program of recovery. We are here to share this
ancient path of contemplative prayer as a way to practice the 11th Step: “Sought through
prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying
only for knowledge of his will for us and the power to carry that out.”
Silence means
letting go of
thoughts.
Stillness means
letting go of
desire.
Simplicity means
letting go of
selfanalysis.
Christian Meditation as an 1 1 th Step Practice - Page 2
Tuning InBy Liz Watson
When we sit to meditate, we have this simple
tuning device for getting on to the divine
wavelength. We have the mantra, the mantra which
helps us to resonate with the spirit of Jesus dwelling in
our heart. We give our word, our tuning device, our
mantra, our attention. We try to resonate with it and
when we go out of tune with it, when we wander off,
when our attention becomes vague or unfocused, we
come back. We retune, we refine our tuning, we refine
the closeness of attention that we are giving to it.
"As the day goes on, we can pause where situations must be
met and decisions made, and renew the simple request: 'Thy
will, not mine, be done.' If at these points our emotional
disturbance happens to be great, we will more surely keep our
balance, provided we remember, and repeat to ourselves, a
particular prayer or phrase that has appealed to us in our
reading or meditation. Just saying it over and over will often
enable us to clear a channel choked up with anger, fear,
frustration, or misunderstanding, and permit us to return to
the surest help of all — our search for God’s will, not our
own, in the moment of stress."
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, Step 11 ◊
The PresentMomentBy Fr. Laurence Freeman,Director, The World Communityfor Christian Meditation
In meditation we stop thinking of
the past and future and learn to
live fully in the present moment.
Unfortunately, God often seems
absent to us because we are not in
the here and now.
We spend much of our life locked
into thought of the past and dreams
of the future. Thinking of the past
breeds feelings of regret, nostalgia,
melancholy or guilt. Living in the
future quickly generates anxiety,
fear and worry.
Living in the present moment is an
art that is practiced in daily life.
Ordinary life is the best school of
meditation for this reason. It teaches
the error of identifying God with
religion, temple, synagogue,
mosque or church, with pious
language or with ritual.
"We will not regret the past nor wish to
shut the door on it. We will comprehend
the word serenity and we will know
peace." —Alcoholics Anonymous
"To those of us who have hitherto
known only excitement, depression, or
anxiety — in other words, to all of us
— this newfound peace is a priceless
gift." —Twelve Steps & Twelve
Traditions, p. 74
"What we really have is a daily reprieve
contingent on the maintenance of our
spiritual condition." —Alcoholics
Anonymous Into Action, p. 85 ◊
"...we stop thinking of the past and future and learnto live fully in the present moment."
Laurence Freeman, O.S.B.
Christian Meditation as an 1 1 th Step Practice - Page 3
Testimonies
When I first started working a
12step programme, I was
happy that the steps were so
practical — perhaps here was the
‘how’ I was looking for, how to live
better, how not to make a difficult
situation worse and spread further
misery. Only the 11th step seemed
airyfairy and remote. ‘Sought
through prayer and meditation to
improve my conscious contact with
God as we understood him...' I had
no problem with God as an idea,
but knew nothing about having
conscious contact. Some people had
it — I could see that — and it
obviously made a difference, but
where was the socket I could plug
into, so I could have it too?
Twenty five years after I started
working the AlAnon programme, I
learned to practise the silent prayer
with a mantra that we call Christian
Meditation. At first I didn’t see the
connection between the two
lifelines I’d been thrown, but
gradually the God of my
understanding moved from
somewhere out there to somewhere
in here. There were no special
experiences, just a growing
awareness that this Spirit was
always there, always with me,
always for both me and all those I
loved. This, I realised, must be the
‘conscious contact' of the 11th step.
All the other steps mysteriously
began to be a little easier.
Jane H ◊
When I was reintroduced to
Christian Meditation seven
years ago at the WCCM Neptune
Beach Center, I thought I had a
good spiritual foundation for my
life, thanks to 25 years of very active
participation in the AA program. I
prayed regularly, and I had found
new meaning in the practice of my
mainstream religion. At one of my
regular AA meetings, I was referred
to as "the Preacher" and often spoke
of how God had made me a new
and better man.
After about a year of regular
Christian Meditation, people
noticed a big change in my
demeanor. Even my medical "vital
signs" had moved to much healthier
numbers. And I began to notice
that, as a longtime AA friend
would have put it, I was "wearing
life as a looser garment."
That continues to this day. I
meditate twice daily and follow
where God leads me. His sign posts
are not difficult to spot. As the 11th
step suggests, through prayer and,
especially, meditation, I have
developed a conscious contact with
God, and my spiritual cup runneth
over.
John G◊
When I was asked to do this
article I immediately said
yes, but then wondered if I’d been
too hasty in my reply. The first
question that popped into my mind
was “Am I really a Christian?” and
then “How would I define what
that means for me?” So this is
where I must start.
Forgiveness and Service, while
bringing others who wish to the
same experience.
My religious experience growing up
was Roman Catholic with a French
Canadian mother and an Italian
immigrant father. The church was
very important to them and it
became important for me too. I was
an altar boy (who helped himself to
the wine), I went to Catholic school,
and I had the requisite guilt about
all things sexual — and learned
what could cause blindness in a
“good Catholic boy.” I remember
the fire and brimstone sermons by
Father Hogan, I was shaking in my
boots... but alas teenage years and a
public high school, booze, drugs,
parties... the guilt was still there,
but now I'd decided that if I
couldn’t be good, I’d be good at
being bad!
Thus was my confused sense of
faith as I discovered recovery in my
early 20s. So I took the Big Book
seriously and tried to rediscover the
religion of my youth. There I found
some amazing people who taught
me about life — a life motivated by
love and healing.
I discovered how to have a real
relationship in marriage, and the
humility and “all in” approach of
St. Francis, St. Benedict and
monastic experience. In John Main I
learned how to meditate, the true
meaning of the Christian
sacraments, and a real sense that I
could never be far from a loving
creator, only closed off to the reality
of that presence in my life.
So how would I describe my
Christian experience in recovery?
How well do I follow the principles
of my faith? Well I guess I’d have to
say I am able to be a good Christian
“now and then” and although I
practice that faith in a Roman
Catholic Christian church, recovery
has taught me not to confuse the
flavour with the ice cream... the
teachings of Jesus are the ice
cream... the church the flavour. And
I do like my ice cream!
George Z. ◊
"...we become free
to love ourselves
and to love
others."
Christian Meditation as an 1 1 th Step Practice
Meditatio
St Marks
Myddelton Square
London EC1 R 1 XX
United Kingdom
email : [email protected]
web: meditatio.co.uk
The NeptuneBeach CenterLinda Kaye
The ‘states and stages’ of the
journey that led to the opening
of The Neptune Beach Center began
14 years ago in February 2002. Two
agnostics and a handful of ‘fallen
away Catholics’ met once a week for
Christian Meditation in a Yoga Tai
Chi Center. The small group
dwindled to two or three, and after
four years we decided it was time to
give up — the Holy Spirit came, not
in the whirlwind, but through the
voice of Sister Elizabeth... no giving
up! Three years later, through grace
and perseverance, the group began
to overflow with newcomers, and in
September 2009 the vision of a
center blossomed into reality.
During the evening of our sixth
anniversary celebration there was
laughter and tears as each person
reflected upon what drew them to
The Neptune Beach Center, to
meditation. The feelings expressed
were sufferings of isolation,
loneliness, confusion as to the
meaning of life. The gifts of the
silence shared by everyone were a
deep sense of coming home, peace
and purpose in fullness of life to be
of service to others — a freedom to
simply ‘be’ without an agenda.
Fr. John Main taught that
meditation creates community, and
he also taught that “meditation is
not a theory.” The experience we
have from meditating together and
working together in community
reflects the growing harmony in all
of our relationships — one
meditation at a time, one day at a
time, growing in faith and in love.
We all agreed, simple but not easy!
The Neptune Beach Center is open
seven days a week through the
grace of God, the selfless service of
our volunteers and the love and
support of the World Community.
We invite you to visit The Neptune
Beach Center, which is located three
blocks from the ocean next to a
beautiful park, at 1112 Third St.,
Suite 9, in Neptune Beach, Florida.
For more information, please email
[email protected]. Thank you
all for your love and your prayers. ◊
Meditatio is a cluster of programs, publications and
events that brings the fruits and benefits of meditation to
the wider world. It is the outreach of The World
Community for Christian Meditation and seeks to bring
universal spiritual wisdom and values to bear upon the
pressing issues of a secular world.
Christian Meditation as an 11th Step Practice is a
Meditatio publication.
©2016 The World Community for Christian Meditation.
Meditation & Addiction is a guide for those who are
interested in the role that meditation can have in helping
people recover from all kinds of addictions. It provides
information and encouragement for those – and their
supporters – who want to reclaim their freedom through
the daily exercise of this practical spiritual discipline. Visit
meditatiostore.com/meditationaddiction to obtain a
copy.
