The Talk
The Talk (Jim) 11/12/2005
There were two high school students on the TEC - Teens Encounter Christ diocesan retreat board, myself and a girl. Fr. Miriani asked me to write a 15 to 20 minute talk in my own words describing my prayer life. I was presented then to various groups of 15 or 20 adults to get them to fund the program, which was quite active.
At that time I couldn’t write two coherent sentences to save my life, but I was articulate. Still I wanted what I was going to say prepared. I didn’t want to wing it. I remember wanting to actually take the listener deep into the prayer space and communion I experienced in deep stillness when I prayed. This is how I did it.
I shut myself away in my room and lighting a candle I began to pray. Prayer always began with giving praise, then I would listen without an agenda. Sometimes if I couldn’t be a blank slate or could hear nothing here, I’d open the Bible anywhere, several times and try to let the readings speak to me spontaneously. I’d pray to know God’s will for me. Next I’d pray for others. Lastly I’d bring my personal requests forward. By this time in prayer I was in a very different place with what had seemed so important before praying and saw it in quite a different light, with great openness.
Since I wanted to take my audience into my personal prayer space and experience, I drew myself close to where my target audience began from, and mused on how to connect there with them. While in deep connection with them and in deep prayer, I scribbled notes and of how to describe this to them. The beauty of nature was a stillness moment everyone had been moved by at some time, I thought. I’d describe myself deeply in just such a moment with them. We’d go back there together.
But how, when I’d write the voice was formal, stilted, not my own. It wasn’t just the words either but how I said them, the tone, feeling, body language that all had to get out of me and to them to bridge the gap between us and take us back. I used a tape recorder. In prayer I’d get to a deep emotional experience of what I needed to convey and I’d scribble down the words that spoke it, then I’d say them over and over, till the voice and feeling was captured in what I’d said and how in the talk. Then as I built on to it, I’d keep starting the talk over to keep the flow of the experience as I moved through it. Finally when the experience was captured on the recorder, I wrote it out word for word and practiced it some more, in prayer.
Something unexpected happened though each time I gave the talk before an audience. I’d begin in silence, taking a moment to go deep into communion with God and ask him to speak through me. Then I’d read the first sentence of my notes and I’d remember the last. But in between it was as if I was in a trance. I’d never look at a note and I don’t remember what I said, the words just flowed from me. I remember I’d see people cry and I remember speaking to specificindividuals at times, where I'd look deep into them, but I don’t remember much more. I was in such deep peace and communion, after each talk. They were very successful.
There were two high school students on the TEC - Teens Encounter Christ diocesan retreat board, myself and a girl. Fr. Miriani asked me to write a 15 to 20 minute talk in my own words describing my prayer life. I was presented then to various groups of 15 or 20 adults to get them to fund the program, which was quite active.
At that time I couldn’t write two coherent sentences to save my life, but I was articulate. Still I wanted what I was going to say prepared. I didn’t want to wing it. I remember wanting to actually take the listener deep into the prayer space and communion I experienced in deep stillness when I prayed. This is how I did it.
I shut myself away in my room and lighting a candle I began to pray. Prayer always began with giving praise, then I would listen without an agenda. Sometimes if I couldn’t be a blank slate or could hear nothing here, I’d open the Bible anywhere, several times and try to let the readings speak to me spontaneously. I’d pray to know God’s will for me. Next I’d pray for others. Lastly I’d bring my personal requests forward. By this time in prayer I was in a very different place with what had seemed so important before praying and saw it in quite a different light, with great openness.
Since I wanted to take my audience into my personal prayer space and experience, I drew myself close to where my target audience began from, and mused on how to connect there with them. While in deep connection with them and in deep prayer, I scribbled notes and of how to describe this to them. The beauty of nature was a stillness moment everyone had been moved by at some time, I thought. I’d describe myself deeply in just such a moment with them. We’d go back there together.
But how, when I’d write the voice was formal, stilted, not my own. It wasn’t just the words either but how I said them, the tone, feeling, body language that all had to get out of me and to them to bridge the gap between us and take us back. I used a tape recorder. In prayer I’d get to a deep emotional experience of what I needed to convey and I’d scribble down the words that spoke it, then I’d say them over and over, till the voice and feeling was captured in what I’d said and how in the talk. Then as I built on to it, I’d keep starting the talk over to keep the flow of the experience as I moved through it. Finally when the experience was captured on the recorder, I wrote it out word for word and practiced it some more, in prayer.
Something unexpected happened though each time I gave the talk before an audience. I’d begin in silence, taking a moment to go deep into communion with God and ask him to speak through me. Then I’d read the first sentence of my notes and I’d remember the last. But in between it was as if I was in a trance. I’d never look at a note and I don’t remember what I said, the words just flowed from me. I remember I’d see people cry and I remember speaking to specificindividuals at times, where I'd look deep into them, but I don’t remember much more. I was in such deep peace and communion, after each talk. They were very successful.
posted by LifeWriter at 8:49 AM
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