Agape for a person important to spiritual development

I led the 2nd step of the group agape prayer with the church’s evening sessions. We focused on someone who was important to each participant’s spiritual life.

The time of meditating began by repeating the previous week’s journey inward. It is important to connect with the spiritual power of agape that everyone can find deep in the heart-center. We need to find agape within in order to sense agape flowing for another person. First we used awareness of our breathing to release the tensions and distractions of the day.

Then we prayed for agape to flow in the life of the special person who was the focus of the evening’s meditation. Each of us prayerfully held this person with our attention, visualizing participating with this person in the spiritual flowing of agape. We thought that person’s name 3 times. Each participant prayed until he or she was able to find the spiritual concern that the special person would find personal well-being and deep sense of peace. We visualized the special person sitting next to us as we shared agape with them.

Afterwards the discussion centered on the need to keep practicing that meditation during the following week until they gained a sensation of spiritually sharing with that person. I reminded them that it can happen whether they were geographically near that person or far away. Being in ‘agape contact’ isn’t effected in any way by distance or time. The meditation was to be practiced until they were able to experience the power of agape flowing into the center of that person’s being. They could imagine that person being drawn close to and opening up to both God’s Presence intimately and the vastness of God’s Presence spreading throughout all Creation.

The most important point to keep remembering was that whatever is happening does not originate with us. The spiritual experience is deepened by becoming aware that the divine power of human relations is not only already pouring into your heart, but it is already pouring into the heart of the other person, and it is already flowing between the two of you. Our major spiritual need is to develop the awareness of that flowing agape process, in all its many manifestations.