{Product Review} Centering Prayer by Thomas Keating

A Course in Centering Prayer in Convenient Box Form

If you are interested in centering prayer and looking for a more multimedia introduction into the practice then this is a product you may be interested in.

What you receive is:

A relatively small spiral bound book which provides introductions, summaries and guides you through the other materials in the course.

A set of 6 DVDs with lectures from the likes of Fr. Thomas Keating, Gail Fitzpatrick-Hopler and Fr. Carl Arico about centering prayer.

Two audio CDs with tracks for introducing you to and taking you through a centering prayer session.

And a set of prayer cards to help assist you with entering the quiet time of reflection prior to centering prayer.

As has been mentioned by others the book is not super thorough, it serves as more of a guide to the course then a full text on the subject of centering prayer. I suggest if you are completely new to the concept of Centering prayer you may want to bundle this set with Fr. Thomas Keating’s book “Open Mind Open Heart: The Contemplative Dimension of the Gospel,” which is a very complete take on centering prayer.

The DVDs too are nothing spectacular but are just video sessions of lectures that are given at Introduction to Centering Prayer retreats. They are not exciting or adrenaline pumping, but then if that is what you are looking for, I think you have the wrong practice.

I don’t think it is my role to appraise the practice of centering prayer but rather offer insight on this introductive course, which I find to be very complete and helpful to a beginner who just doesn’t know where to start or what to do. I believe short of taking a course in centering prayer in person at a seminar this is the next best thing you could use to introduce you to the practice of centering prayer. I found it complete, thorough and helpful; and if this is a subject you are interested in I think you may find it helpful too.

{Product Review} Five Star Flex Notebinder

Growing up in the 80's and 90's I had a glorious appreciation of the trapper keeper. The handsomely designed three ring binder that held nearly all of your school work, nay, your entire educational experience in one manageable book-ish contraption.

Thankfully things have changed and improved. The five star flex hybrid notebinder (as the company states) acts like a workbook and works like a binder. Both the front and back cover are made out of tough yet relatively thin plastic. they are held together by nylon fabric that lets you fold the front cover all the way behind the back cover like a notebook.

Everything is held together by three plastic/rubbery rings to hold papers and contents in. The notebinder comes with a small supply of ruled paper and graph paper (Three hole punched and very convenient). Also included are three heavy duty sheet protectors with tabs. And two heavy duty plastic divider sheets with pockets for holding paper, index cards and other paper products. The only thing this thing is missing is maybe a small zip up pencil case. Everything is held in place by three tough plastic rings that are fixed to the back cover of the the notebinder, they are a little tough to open and close but they are very secure and I doubt they would bust open even if the notebinder was drop from quite a height.

So this really seams like a logical evolution in where binders are going. You have the flexibility of a notebook where you can fold everything away and start taking notes and the storage capacity and utility of a three ring binder. This would be perfect for any student middle school through college.

{Product Review} Logitech Wireless Desktop MK 300

The Logitech Wireless Desktop MK 300 appears to be another quality product from Logitech at a relatively good price.

The keyboard has all the basic functions you would need and expect plus a few programmable keys. One thing the keyboard does not have though is lights for things like caps lock or num lock. I realize this is to save battery power, but it is a minor annoyance as most word processors tell you things like this on the screen.

The keyboard is also pretty thin and relatively quiet, both of which are nice. The response to the keyboard is also very fast. Every now and then I think I catch it sleeping and it takes an extra half second to connect to the computer and follow my commands, but other than that it always seems ready to go.

The mouse is optical and feels like any standard mouse, it uses an invisible laser so no worries about children burning out there retinas by staring at the mouse. There is a small switch underneath the mouse to turn it off and on; which makes sense to have, for battery saving issues. Both keyboard and mouse take two battery's each and have lasted over a month of moderate usage, Logitech I believe says they should last 8 weeks, so that fits.

There is a USB based antenna you do have to plug in. It has a decent length (3+ feet) cord and a little button on the end for when you initially sync everything up to the computer. You do need to install Logitech's software to make it all work it is not plug and play. I didn't have any problems with installation or software. And as far as range goes I have gotten up to 25 feet without any problems, but your mileage may vary, do you apartment/house construction materials and what not.

So in conclusion if you are looking for a budget priced wireless keyboard and mouse with decent to good performance then I think you will enjoy this setup.