Contemplation
There is contemplation, and there are contemplative practices that lead to it. I'm not sure what the definition of these would be. To me, contemplation is an awareness of the presence of God, and contemplative practice, anything that brings an awareness of the presence of God. But that definition leaves a little unsaid also. Just to consider that God exists, and be aware of His attributes of omnipotence and omnipresence, would probably not be enough. Or would it be?
Can contemplation be an existential acknowledgment of the fact of God? Or is there an awareness, a personal knowledge, on a different or spiritual level beyond our intellect and knowing? Maybe not neccessarily a deeper level, just different. In fact it may be a simpler level, like a baby trusting in a mothers love and embrace.
I remind myself of Psalm 131: "O Lord my heart is not haughty, nor my eyes lofty, neither do I concern myself with great matters or things too profound for me. Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul like a weaned child with his mother." I do not understand contemplation on a cognitive level. I'm reading Thomas Merton "The Inner Experience". Like many books, it's a challenge for me. But I think I can relate to the basic thought of contemplation, that is the awareness of the presence of God through His Spirit in my spirit.
And so I work at contemplative practices: Prayer, reading the Bible, reading spiritual books, silence, solitude, manual labor, stability, prayer walks, meditation, and giving. But these are not contemplation; these are not the presence of God. They simply create an environment where somehow hopefully the Spirit of God breaks into my atmosphere and in a spontaneous moment, I realize God is there. And He is here. And He is. For all the work, for all the spiritual struggle, the end result is what could have come easily: the acknowledgment of God's presence in my being. For that fleeting moment, life makes perfect sense. So I begin again at contemplative practice, all to comprehend the incomprehensible. to conceive of the inconceivable.
Can contemplation be an existential acknowledgment of the fact of God? Or is there an awareness, a personal knowledge, on a different or spiritual level beyond our intellect and knowing? Maybe not neccessarily a deeper level, just different. In fact it may be a simpler level, like a baby trusting in a mothers love and embrace.
I remind myself of Psalm 131: "O Lord my heart is not haughty, nor my eyes lofty, neither do I concern myself with great matters or things too profound for me. Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul like a weaned child with his mother." I do not understand contemplation on a cognitive level. I'm reading Thomas Merton "The Inner Experience". Like many books, it's a challenge for me. But I think I can relate to the basic thought of contemplation, that is the awareness of the presence of God through His Spirit in my spirit.
And so I work at contemplative practices: Prayer, reading the Bible, reading spiritual books, silence, solitude, manual labor, stability, prayer walks, meditation, and giving. But these are not contemplation; these are not the presence of God. They simply create an environment where somehow hopefully the Spirit of God breaks into my atmosphere and in a spontaneous moment, I realize God is there. And He is here. And He is. For all the work, for all the spiritual struggle, the end result is what could have come easily: the acknowledgment of God's presence in my being. For that fleeting moment, life makes perfect sense. So I begin again at contemplative practice, all to comprehend the incomprehensible. to conceive of the inconceivable.
posted by Jeff at
1:21 PM
