Dear Friend,

We are being called to "pray without ceasing," and in the last IJ letter, we offered a few suggestions to help you in your pursuit of this way of life. If you did the things we suggested, you now realize how difficult this way of life can be. You may feel an attunement with Spirit for a time and witness the sacred in ordinary things, but then it fades like the fragrance of the flower garden which has been chased by the wind. How disconcerting this is and how normal.

We are spiritual beings, but the constant tug of the human condition and the world of appearances has masked our awareness of who we are. Our five senses cry out so loudly that we do not sense the underlying spiritual senses which reveal not an earthly realm, but a heavenly kingdom of oneness of Spirit. Just as a musician develops the ability to listen for "sounds and rhythms" that transcend the earthly ear, so too must we unfold spiritual senses and abilities that are for God’s glory.

In this letter, we will continue offering additional insights and suggestions to aid you in the "practice of the Presence."

1. Those who pray without ceasing dwell in the moment. They are not preoccupied with the past or looking around the bend to the ever emerging future. The moment is full because it is filled with God. It is odd, but a life filled with the Presence begins with our willingness to be present with the pain and discomfort of daily living.

The natural human tendency is to avoid pain, and this is helpful when it comes to a hand on a hot stove, but our willingness to be present with the emotional pains and trying situations puts us in contact not only with the great challenges of life but also with the presence of God. When we try to avoid the difficulties of the moment, we erect a barrier to the Presence which is also in the midst of the eternal now.

Enter the eternal now by giving attention to your five senses. Do not push them away. Close your eyes and listen to the sounds around you. No sound is ever heard in the past. or future—sound is always heard in the moment. Let your "listening" extend beyond outer sounds. Listen to your thoughts and feelings. They may concern the past or the future, but thoughts and feelings are experienced in the moment..

Dear friend, be the watcher. Observe what is around you and what is within you. Develop the eye of the artist that sees shapes and forms rather than things with a name. Develop the ear of the composer that hears a reed instrument in the wind and the percussion of the drum in the thunder or the pounding of the surf. As you do this, you will develop what is called presence. It will not be solely your human self that appears. God who dwells in the moment will now have an avenue through which to express Itself.

Continue to develop presence by performing simple, mundane tasks with conscious attention. Discover that preparing a meal with presence is a loving act. We have even. washed our hands in this way. Better yet, we can comb a child’s hair in this special way. As you do this, you will find that the ordinary takes on an extraordinary quality.

2. Secondly, we ask you to let a seven syllable statement emerge from within you which you can use in a special "practice the presence" exercise that we will share with you in the next Inner Journey Journal. However, the first step is one that you must take.

Dear friend of God, it is necessary that IJ Letters not be something that you read and then set aside. They are meant to be companions on your journey and, like true. friends, challenge you to come up higher and to grow. The following are a few examples of seven syllable sounds: I and the Father are one. Filled with the grandeur of God. I am beginning again.

Please do not use one of the above examples unless you feel strongly guided to do so. Besides, it will be a month of so before your IJ Journal arrives with ideas about how to utilize your "mantra" to assist you in praying without ceasing. In the meantime, let your mantra rise out of prayer and meditation times in which you ponder a significant time in your life. It may be a spiritual experience or a time of darkness, an instance when you started over or when your stood at a crossroads. The possibilities are many, but the key is that the time was spiritually meaningful. Recall the events or circumstances, and let the words begin to form. You will find that a seven syllable mantra has a special cadence to it. Also, because it comes from within your soul, it causes your soul to sing. But more of that later.

For now, be in the moment whether that moment is filled with joy or pain. And out of the eternal now, invite the seven sounds to come. They will and with them will come the rhythm of the universe and the music of the spheres! Even in writing to you a new. one has come which we will meditate upon this evening—Mighty in the midst of me...

In Love We Journey With You,

Jim and Nancy