When Anthony Bloom was a young priest an elderly woman in her 90’s came to him for advice. He suggested she seek advice with someone wiser, but she said she had asked many people with no success and that perhaps Bloom in his young ignorance would by chance blunder and say the right thing. So with that un-encouraging start,  Anthony Bloom asked the woman what her question was. 

She said, “These 14 years. I have been praying with the  Jesus Prayer almost continually – Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner  – and never have I perceived God’s presence at all”.

Father Bloom, just blurted out the first thing that came to his mind, “If you speak all the time, you don’t give God a chance to place a word in”.

He then went on to advise the woman to attempt a new prayer method.  Bloom suggested she go to her room after breakfast, straighten everything up, light a lamp before her little icon and then just  look around at her room to enjoy it for a while. 

 After doing this, she was to sit down for 15 minutes and knit  before the face of God. “But,” he said, “I forbid you to say one word of prayer.” –  She was to just knit with God and try to enjoy the peace of her room. 

The woman did not consider this very pious advice but she tried it and a couple of weeks later she came to Anthony Bloom and exclaimed, “It worked!” She related to Bloom that, as instructed, she returned to her room after breakfast,  straightened it up and looked around. She noticed the pleasing size and arrangement of the room and windows overlooking the garden. ‘What a nice room I have.’ she thought. 

Then she sat down to knit before the face of God and in the silence she began to perceive that the silence was not an absence of noise, but it was something of substance. The silence felt like it had density and richness to it. Then all of a sudden  she perceived the silence was a presence, at the heart of the silence – was God.

At the heart of the silence – was God.

Settling into the silence of the present moment, in the company of God, can feel like pretty unfamiliar territory to many of us, as it did to this elderly woman.

Anthony Bloom felt that the skill of being aware of the present moment was an essential element of a rich prayer life. He also believed that most of us barely know the present moment exists.

Time Stopping Exercise

To solve this dilemma, Bloom developed exercises he called Time Stopping.

Our prayer project today is to do Bloom’s first exercise in Time Stopping.

Here’s what we do:

• For 30 seconds or so we will sit down and say to ourselves, “I am seated, I am doing nothing, I will do nothing.” 
• And then we relax and say to ourselves, “I am here in the presence of God, in my own presence, and in the presence of all the things that are around me –  just still, moving nowhere.” 

That’s all there is to it, very simple, but not easy for all of us.

Let’s give it a try for about 30 seconds. I’ll add some background sound for our exercise.

• Sit down if you can. If not, continue to move slowly.

• Now say the following out loud or quietly, “I am seated. I am doing nothing. I will do nothing.” Relax and say to yourself., “I am here in the presence of God, in my own presence and in the presence of the things that are around me – just still, moving nowhere.”

How did it go for you? For most of us being still in the present moment is pretty challenging. That’s why Bloom suggests that we practice with some exercises like this. 

Most of us barely know the present moment exists.

Besides the profound benefit of deepening our connection with God, becoming aware of the present moment  also has a number of physical and mental benefits for us.

Research studies have found that Present Moment Awareness is associated with increased happiness, contentment and improved quality of life. It’s also associated with decreased anxiety, increased mental clarity, self-regulation, and even better immune function.

Let’s give Bloom’s Time Stopping Exercise one more try today.

• I invite you to  say the following out loud or quietly, “I am seated. I am doing nothing. I will do nothing.”  Relax and say to yourself, “ I am here in the presence of God, in my own presence and in the presence of the things that are around me – just still, moving nowhere.”

The elderly woman that Anthony Bloom advised, lived for about 10 more years to the age of 102. She claimed that when she chose to be quiet and silent herself she could always find this presence of God in the silence.  When her mind began to quiver with too much silence, she returned to the Jesus Prayer until her mind was quiet again and she could drop the words and step into the present moment of the silence Presence. 

Thank you for joining me. May we both experience a greater sense of God’s Presence in this present moment.