"Before I begin I am ALREADY that". That is to say there is no seeking, no grasping for what is Present. The moment of seeking as a future prospect negates the potency of present reality. So I say, as soon as I approach prayer and sense myself beginning to seek, to possess "Before I begin, I am already that". This emphasis is on the "already-ness of im-mediate grace". Heartful prayer is Kenotic - i.e. not seeking to possess what you do not have but re-cognising what IS already through letting go of the grasping self.

The other emphasis is on "Being" - I AM already that. "I am" is the simplest conceptual expression of being. I AM the stillness in which all things move. I AM the silence from which all thought and speech arise. I AM the space in which all around and within me exists. Stillness, Silence and Space are no longer separate objects or concepts perceived but real aspects inseparably connected to who I AM.

Jesus said I AM. This "I AM-ness" is no other than the replacement of the false self by the True self which is the Cross, which is Jesus - which is God. The false self says "there is something I need to add to ME". The True self says "I am already that". So when I perceive the profound simplicity of being in all its embrace-ment I am affirming the reality of Jesus Christ as the living risen witness to the life of God which is inseparable from the life we live. Resurrection is not some souped up version of life but the affirmation of life as it is - not something SUPER natural but that which is truly natural -our true nature affirmed as that which "swallows up" the false in loving radical im-mediate radical acceptance of what IS as I AM.