This passage from Thomas Merton (Spiritual Classics, pg. 17) is very short but raises many questions. We might be begin by doing a close reading of the text together...I invite you to make a brief comment on any particular question that sparks a response in you.
And a reminder: this online conversation group is offered to all as a forum to question, comment, exclaim, journal, brainstorm. Welcome!
And a reminder: this online conversation group is offered to all as a forum to question, comment, exclaim, journal, brainstorm. Welcome!
How does Merton answer the question: "Who may desire the gift of contemplation and ask for it?"
What does the practice of contemplation accomplish in us?
What holds us back from intimate union with God?
Why is Psalm 1:1-6 paired with the reading from Merton?
If you need the reading, email me at karen@theologicalhorizons.org
Next week, Oct. 3, we'll read the selection by Andre Louf
When you check back here for others' comments, remember to "refresh" the page on your toolbar!
Next week, Oct. 3, we'll read the selection by Andre Louf
When you check back here for others' comments, remember to "refresh" the page on your toolbar!
3 comments:
In exploring the meaning of the words "meditation" and "contemplation" I turned to the words of the catechism in The New Zealand Prayer Book. I like their simplicity:
What is prayer?
Prayer is our response to God's love. We pray in the name of Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit.
What are the different ways of prayer?
We can pray with or without words, by ourselves or with others. The main kinds of prayer include adoration, praise, thanksgiving, confession of sins, intercession to God and for others and ourselves. The prayer of listening to God is called meditation or contemplation.
What is a helpful way for us to begin?
We can realize God's presence with us by being quiet and still, and by recognizing God's love within and around us.
Lane Mathis said....
In my role this year as a servant to my aging parents, I often ponder how meditation and contemplation translate into being life-giving, how it leads to inviting others into the joy of relationship with Jesus.
An old song that starts with the line: Brother, let me be your servant, Let me be as Christ to you...seems to tie in with Merton's and Foster's thoughts on how contemplation and meditation display themselves in how we love. I cannot serve unless I reside in the love of Christ. I cannot reside unless I mediate and contemplate on the vast love of Christ for me. And when I see Jesus, I see that love for me, which leads me to an overflow of doing likewise with others.
It seems to me that this is the circle of faith. We think on God. He dotes on us adoringly. That spurs us on to love Him even more. And loving Him spurs us on also to serving others with such love as He has for us. Loving others leads us back to leaning into loving and being loved by the Trinity. So I come back to thinking on Him who first thought of me.
"his gifts of Wisdom and Understanding"--what gifts--what joyful gifts.
"Their development will always remain the free gift of God and it is true that His wise Providence sees fit to develop them less in some saints that in others." Ummmm....
"But there is only one condition. If you desire intimate union with God you must be willing to pay the price for it . . . the price is small enough . . . "
"...those who wilfully remain at a distance from God, who confine their interior life to a few routine exercises of piety and a few external actions of worship performed as a matter of duty . . . God is only invited to enter this charmed cricle to smooth out difficulties and to dispense rewards."
What an uncomfortable, inconvenient challenge
to my comfortable, convenient religiosit--of my own creation.
Oh God, don't you see,
if only you would operate according to me!
What is this expectation you have,
O Lord,
that I should be as beautiful as a tree.
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