Megachurch Mystic

Who knew my latest prayer practice, an ancient no-frills form of meditation, would be touted by Modern Megachurch Mars Hill?

Centering prayer is a form of imageless, nearly wordless focus. Breathing slowly, per meditative practice, one silently repeats a name of God (or a phrase, such as "Be still"), examines distractions that arise, and then releases them. The practice can be simultaneously calming and energizing.

Although Rob Bell did not lead his hundreds of followers in centering prayer, he mentioned it several times and opened the sermon with an exercise that scraped its surface, a high-tech multi-media introduction to the rudiments of meditation. Using a "breathing belt" to track the rate of his breaths on a video screen, Bell reduced his audience's breathing pace from the typical American's 20 breaths per minute to 6.

Breathe in.

Wait.

Breathe out.