Posted on by Kurt Bodling

preparing for contemplation

"Since contemplation is the union of our mind and will with God in an act of pure love that brings us into obscure contact with Him as He really is, the way to contemplation is to develop and perfect our mind and will and our whole soul. Infused contemplation begins when the direct intervention of God raises this whole process of development above the level of our nature: and then He perfects our faculties by seeming to defeat all their activity in the suffering and darkness of His infused light and love.

“But before this begins, we ordinarily have to labor to prepare ourselves in our own way and with the help of His grace, by deepening our knowledge and love of God in meditation and active forms of prayer, as well as by setting our wills free from attachment to created things.”

Merton, Thomas. New Seeds of Contemplation. Introduction by Sue Monk Kidd. New York: New Directions Books, 2007, ©1961, p. 214

Comment: I am pretty sure I know some folks who would read this and shout in their most accusatory voice, “Semi-Pelagianism! Beware!!” But I believe that Merton is not here talking about salvation and conversion. He is, rather, describing the later growth in the faith that should come to Christians as they mature. At that point the human will and effort are certainly involved.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

relating to noise

“The measure of our ability to live in silence is our reaction to noise (whether external or internal) and not in the length of time we go without hearing anything or hearing only what we like to hear. As contemplative practice matures, we begin to relate to disruptive noise differently. We learn to meet sound that displeases with the same stillness with which we meet the sounds that please us.”

Laird, Martin. A Sunlit Absence : Silence, Awareness, and Contemplation. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011, p. 49.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

the false self

"Our basic style is often built around the things that were reinforced for us as children. It usually starts with things that we do well. …

"The problem is not that we do certain things well and have competencies and qualities that make us special. The problem lies in the inordinate investment that we place in this image and way of being.

"At the core of the false self is a desire to preserve an image of our self and a way of relating to the world. This is our personal style–how we think of ourselves and how we want others to see us and think of us. … Typically the trait that we prize is in fact part of who we are. But the truth always is that this trait is simply one among many. We live a lie when we make it the sum of our being.

“Our false self is built on an inordinate attachment to an image of our self that we think makes us special. The problem is the attachment, not having qualities that make us unique. Richard Rohr suggests that the basic question we must ask is whether we are prepared to be other than our image of our self. If not, we will live in bondage to our false self.”

Benner, David G. The Gift of Being Yourself. Expanded ed. Downers Grove, Ill: IVP Books, 2015, p. 70.