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Centering Prayer helps prepare mind and body to fight racism, environmental injustice; and other evils in the world; Prayer must be accompanied by action 

Featured speaker at the Turtle Island Project (TIP) Native American Roundtable and Regional Conference was Rev. Dr. George Cairns of Chesterton, Indian - the co-founder and board chair of the TIP.

The Celtic cross hanging in front of Dr. Cairns has great symbolism. Celtics were indigenous peoples who practiced Earth-based Christianity in Scotland and other European countries.

The banner has a Celtic cross in the middle and many endless knots throughout and the greeting "Cead Mile Failte" means 10,000 welcomes.

Rev. Cairns explained he fights environmental problems and other important social issues with a wide-range of methods including "contemplative prayer" and "engaging structural evil."

"We can't get their with just our hearts - we need our heads and something more," said Cairns, research professor at the Chicago Theological Seminary.

(Photo by Greg Peterson)

Centering prayer discussed at TIP Native American Roundtable: other topics included poverty, teen suicide, environment

(Munising, Michigan) - Racism, poverty, teen suicide on reservations, the derogatory perversion of American Indian names on Minnesota rivers and other locations across the country, and learning respect for the environment from Earth-based cultures were among the topics discussed at a Native American Roundtable sponsored by the non-profit Turtle Island Project at the Eden on the Bay Lutheran Church in Munising.

Featured speaker Rev. Dr. George Cairns of Chesterton, Indiana explained he fights environmental problems and other important social issues with a wide-range of methods including "contemplative prayer" and "engaging structural evil."

The Scotland-based Iona community is a good example of a group of people "who are unified by a covenant, worship together and who engage in very effective political action to change structural evil."

Rev. Cairns said "centering prayer" and "participative consciousness" that are techniques of deep meditation he learned from Father Thomas Keating, a Trappist monk and teacher. (Trappist refers to a branch of the Cistercian order of monks known for an austere rule including a vow of silence.)

"Silent meditation is a powerful tool to open ourselves to one another and to all creation which is what this participative consciousness is all about," said Cairns, TIP co-founder and board president.

Cairns said the intense form of meditation helps eliminate the "internal dialogue" or "chatter that's going on all the time" in people's minds.

"I found out how much of my life was consumed by internal dialogue," said Cairns, research professor of theology at the Chicago Theological Seminary..

Centering prayer allows "us to open our hearts to a deeper relationship with God and an increased openness to the movement of the Holy Spirit in our lives," said Rev. Cairns, admitting it's an easier technique to teach than for people to learn and practice.

"The technique to doing it - is simply to rest with God. It's not easy to do, it's easy to teach, but very difficult to do," Cairns said.

In fighting the world's evil, Cairns said "we can't get their with just our hearts - we need our heads and something more."

"That something more is a deep relationship with one another and with all creation," Cairns said.

---Summary of Turtle Island Project & TV sites:

Turtle Island Project main website:http://www.turtleislandproject.org

Turtle Island TV (blipTV)http://turtleislandtv.blip.tv/

Turtle Island TV (youtube)http://www.youtube.com/MunisingWhiteHorse

Turtle Island (myspace)http://www.myspace.com/TurtleIslandProject

Turtle Island Project websites/Blogs:http://groups.msn.com/WhisperingTurtlehttp://turtleislandproject.wordpress.com/

email:TurtleIslandProject@charter.net----Contact info for people quoted in news release:

Turtle Island Project founder/Director:

Rev. Dr. Lynn HubbardEden on the Bay Evangelical Lutheran Church1150 M-28 WestMunising, MI.49862

wk: 906-387-2520cell: 906.202.0590