The Inward Journey

"The seeds of this sublime life are planted in every Christian soul at Baptism. But seeds must grow and develop before you reap the harvest. There are thousands of Christians walking about the face of the earth bearing in their bodies the infinite God of Whom they know practically nothing. They are themselves sons of God and are not aware of their identity...

The seeds of contemplation and sanctity, planted in those souls, merely lie dormant. They do not germinate. They do not grow. In other words, sanctifying grace occupies the substance of their souls, but never flows out to inflame and irrigate and take possession of their faculties, their intellect and will. The presence of God never becomes an intimate reality. God does not manifest Himself to these souls because they do not seek Him with any real desire...

They are men divided between God and the world. They are at home only in their exterior self. They never seek what is deeper within them. They allow God to maintain His rights over the substance of their souls, but their thoughts and desires do not belong to him. They belong to illusion, to passion, and to external things.

~ Thomas Merton, The Inner Experience, p. 48

Earlier this morning I read from the book of Matthew chapter 7 and when I read this passage from Merton, in his exceptional book, The Inner Experience, I was reminded of these verses:

Matthew 7:7-8

(7) Ask and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. (8) For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be open.

I don't necessarily agree with all of Merton's theology in the above passage but I do agree with the fact that God dwells within us and so many of us live our lives missing out on the opportunity of experiencing the presence of God. I have to confess that I have lived the majority of my Christian life accepting God's truths yet failing to experience His actual presence within. I think that the contemplative experience is something that just isn't discussed much, at least in the Christian circles that I have found myself in. That's really unfortunate. To experience the presence of God  is to be transformed in His love.

We have a wonderful opportunity in this life to get to know the God that will always be with us, even when our physical bodies are no more. He is with us now...not as an abstract concept or as some far and distant God that resides in the heavens, but He, through the form of the Holy Spirit, resides within our soul's temples. Let's not be the kind of christians Merton describes above. Let's seek the divine light that is in each one of us. As the verses in Matthew reveal, God never turns down the seeker. He is there waiting to open the door, it is just up to us to knock. Let's take the transformative journey inwards and into the arms of God.

A book that has really helped me with my journey inwards is The Practice of the Presence of God  by Brother Lawrence. You can find some of my favorite quotes from the book here: http://ascendingthehills.blogspot.com/p/brother-lawrence-quotes.html  I hope you enjoy them!

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for your mercy and grace. Thank you for sending your only son down here to teach us how to love, how to give and ultimately to die for our sins. Forgive us our sins and the many times we fall short and help us to forgive others. Our hearts long to bring you glory. Help us open our hearts to your presence. We want to know you intimately and not just know of you. Guide us in our journey inwards and help transform our hearts as by your grace,  your light floods them with your love and peace.

In Jesus' name,

Amen.

Lose Your Religion and Find God: Thomas Merton

"Let no one hope to find in contemplation  an escape from conflict, from anguish or from doubt. On the contrary, the deep, inexpressible certitude of the contemplative experience awakens a tragic anguish and opens many questions in the depths of the heart like wounds that cannot stop bleeding. For every gain in deep certitude there is a corresponding growth of superficial "doubt". This doubt is by no means opposed to genuine faith, but it mercilessly examines and questions the spurious "faith" of everyday life, the human faith which is nothing but the passive acceptance of conventional opinion.

This false "faith" which is what we often live by and which we even come to confuse with our "religion" is subjected to inexorable questioning. This torment is a kind of trial by fire in which we are compelled, by the very light of invisible truth which has reached us in the dark ray of contemplation, to examine, to doubt and finally to reject all prejudices and conventions that we have hitherto accepted as if they were dogmas. Hence is it clear that genuine contemplation is incompatible with complacency and with smug acceptance of prejudiced opinions. It is not mere passive acquiescence in the status quo, as some would like to believe-for this would reduce it to the level of spiritual anesthesia. Contemplation is no pain-killer. What a holocaust takes place in this steady burning to ashes of old worn-out words, cliches, slogans, rationalizations! The worst of it is that even apparently holy conceptions are consumed alone with the rest. It is a terrible breaking and burning of idols, a purification of the sanctuary, so that no graven thing may occupy the place that God has commanded to be left empty: the center, the existential altar which simply "is".

In the end the contemplative suffers the anguish of realizing that he no longer knows what God is. He may or may not mercifully realize that, after all, this is a great gain, because "God is not a what", not a "thing". That is precisely one of the essential characteristics of contemplative experience. It sees that there is no "what" that can be called God. There is "no such thing" as God because God is neither a "what" nor a "thing" but a pure "Who". He is the "Thou" before whom our inmost "I" springs into awareness. He is the I Am before whom with our own most personal and inalienable voice we echo "I am."                    ~ Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation

Merton is not suggesting losing reverence towards Scripture or faith in the God of the Bible but what he is saying here is to experience God we have to strip away from the layers of our consciousness preconceived notions that we have acquired and absorbed through our culture of who God "is".  As our souls open up to the light and love of God the awkward silhouettes of our illusions start to rise forth and we must have the courage to let them pass by so that we leave our minds and souls empty of them, thus making room for the true knowledge and experience of God. Our faith is to be active, perhaps interactive is a better word to use. We are to interact with God and not just be  passive, accepting truths and knowledge from others and not testing the validity of such claims by asking questions and experiencing the truth for ourselves.

It is not a comfortable process, in fact it can be quite painful and in some ways it can feel almost like we are losing our faith because we are stepping out of the complacency we have rested in for so long, cradled by the words and assumptions of man and plunging into the reality of God through our own experiences with Him, relying solely on the Spirit to guide us.

As he says, " It is a terrible breaking and burning of idols, a purification of the sanctuary, so that no graven thing may occupy the place that God has commanded to be left empty: the center, the existential altar which simply "is". "

I don't know about you, dear reader, but I seek with my whole heart to clear the clutter that rests buried deep beneath layers of subconscious at my soul's center and make my soul a wide and empty space, a space exclusively reserved for God to fill and dwell within it. What are your thoughts? I'd love to hear them!

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for bringing us safely into a new day. We thank you for your love and compassion and for the wonders of creation that surround us. Every beautiful sunrise, every smile joyfully etched on a child's innocent face, every mountain gilded with glaciers and wildflowers sings out in praise to the God who creates and sustains all of life. Thank you!

Help us to open up our hearts to you more and more. May we see reality as it is, clear our minds and hearts so that we may experience you more fully and not be trapped and mired down in the illusions which distract us. Help guide us in our journey for we seek you above all else. We desire to delight in your glory. May we give you all glory, honor and praise.

In Jesus' name,

Amen.

Experiential Knowledge/Father Jean-Pierre de Caussade

"We can only be truly instructed by the words which God speaks to us personally. No one grows in knowledge of God either by reading books or by curious historical research. These means give us but a vain and empty knowledge, which serves only to confuse us and inflate us with pride

We only know perfectly that which we have learned by experience through suffering or action. This is the school of the Holy Spirit, who speaks the words of life to the heart; and all that we say to others should come from this source. Whatever we read, whatever we see, becomes divine knowledge only by the fruitfulness, the virtue the light which this experience gives. Without this experiential knowledge, all our learning is like unleavened dough, lacking the salt and the seasoning of experience. Without this experiential knowledge, we have only vague, untried ideas to act on, we are like the dreamer who, through knowing all the highways of the world, misses the road to his own house.

Therefore we have only to listen to God from moment to moment in order to become learned in the knowledge by which the saints lived, which is all practice and experience.

Set aside what is said to others, but listen to what is said to you and for you; you will find enough in that to exercise your faith, because this interior language of God, by its very obscurity, exercises, purifies and increases your faith."

                             ~ Father Jean-Pierre de Caussade, The Joy of Full Surrender

Reading this just reminds me of the importance to live and experience life actively, thus experiencing all of its facets and becoming an actor on life's stage, not just an observer. It's hard sometimes to step out in faith and serve God through our actions but when we do we are exposed to experiences that, through  guidance of the Spirit, can give us tremendous insights that wouldn't have been achieved by reading another's account of that same experience. We need to have our own experiences so that God can work uniquely through our hearts in the ways that will invoke a relationship between us and the Spirit, between student and teacher. To live out our faith and not just read about other's isn't always easy. The Spirit will train our hearts to conform our will to God's if we let it carve off our false attachments, illusions...if we let it mold our egos so that God is glorified more and we are glorified less in our minds. The Spirit will help teach our hearts purity, humility and deeper levels of love and compassion. The Spirit is our guide to becoming more and more like Jesus.

I think this passage also provides a healthy perspective when it comes to seeking knowledge about God. Words that I have chosen to read over and over again for I surely need to be continually reminded of them! I love to read books from writers and theologians of our faith. My heart and soul thirsts for God...I want to know all I can about Him and experience Him to the fullest. I have found times though when I  have to stop and think about what I'm reading. Oftentimes, I find myself entering Scripture less and less as I dive more and more into the words written by man. In those times I find my mind wrestling with theological questions rather than entering into simple devotion for our God. I find my soul inattentive to the whispers of the Spirit and more attentive to my own desires. That's when I need to take a break from man's written words and return like a prodigal child back into God's.

I've found that when I go back to Scriptures, in repentance for seeking answers outside of His Word, that like an eternal spring of the most filtered and pure water, the Spirit rises up within me filling me with insight, peace, and yes-knowledge, far beyond what any book written by any theologian can supply.

Proverbs 1:7 says:

⁷ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
   but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

It's my belief that when we go back to the simple and pure reverence of God, the fear of the Lord, that that begins an active relationship between our souls and the Spirit, providing spiritual manna and true knowledge of God.

Heavenly Father,

Help us lean not on our own knowledge but help us to continually seek Yours, inclining our ears towards understanding and living each moment attentive to the teachings and whisperings of Your holy Spirit. Give us the courage to be participants in the world, not just observers of it and may the meditations of our heart and the outward expressions of them be pleasing to You.

We give You all honor, glory and praise.

In Jesus' name,

Amen.

The Harmony of Service and Contemplation: Augstine of Hippo

"No man has a right to lead such a life of contemplation as to forget in his own ease the service due his neighbor; nor has any man a right to be so immersed in active life as to neglect the contemplation of God."

          ~ Augustine of Hippo

 When I read that quote I couldn't help but think about the concept of balance...and how perhaps we are most useful and effective as individuals in our pursuits towards glorifying God  and manifesting His kingdom here on earth when we aren't one or the other extreme, but when we are holistically grounded in a balanced state of service and devotion.

I think we've all met (and perhaps have experienced this ourselves) people who are one or the other of either extreme. Who either seem to be a flurry of activity and service towards God, yet seem to be spiritually starved from lack of the manna God provides us through His Word or are perhaps buried in the pages of their Bible without ever looking up to see what is happening in the world around them.

My suggestion: Let's find ways to discipline ourselves to  honor our Soveriegn Lord with our heads, hearts and our hands. It's amazing meditating and experiencing God's presence, entering His Word and witnessing His living Word come to life...but may all of that prompt us to apply the insights, truths and wisdom God blesses us with.  

As God blesses us, may we bless others too. The New Testament is filled with Jesus displaying acts of service to others-extending himself with love and compassion and empathy. It is my prayer that as I progress in my walk and get to know God even more that He will reveal to me new ways in which I can serve Him and His people.

Heavenly Father,

Thank you so much for blessing us with the dawning of a new day. May we be filled with the joy and peace of your presence and as we enter your Word today, and your presence through prayer, may your Spirit stir within our hearts and speak to us new ways in which we can bring you glory through serving and helping your children. May you cause us to be bright lights shining in a dark world and may you help us to "to preach good news to the poor, to bind up the brokenhearted and proclaim freedom to the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners".

We love you, we praise you and give you all glory and honor.

In Jesus' name,

Amen

Enter the Gates

"The present moment is a wide-open gate leading to the depths of God."
 James Finley, Christian Meditation, p. 230

There are most likely as many ways to come before God and enter into His presence as there are people. Everyone is so unique, their souls and person stitched together in a unique and differing pattern. I would suggest ,though ,that we are all stitched together with the same thread, for we were all made in the likeness of God.  Those of us that have claimed our inheritance have God within us and if we learn to still our minds we can learn to open up to experience the presence of God and experience a peace that surpasses all understanding.

There is an immense amount of freedom I've found in experiencing the present moment. And I've found that using the tool of mindfulness in worship and prayer and in every moment is a powerful way of experiencing God's presence. I am going to write more on this, but perhaps this is sort of an introduction to this subject on my blog. Oh, and I just want to mention, these are just my own thoughts and reflections on this subject...I'm no way an expert (as this blog's intro states!). This is just an area that fascinates me, that I've experienced personally though am still a novice in fully comprehending and practicing.

I was reflecting the other day that our consciousness is like an onion with different layers. As we peel back the layers less of the onion remains but what does become even more real are the intangible qualities-it's scent and sometimes our physiological responses to it (like involuntary tears!). The more we enter into different levels of consciousness, peeling back the more superficial layers, peeling away our attachments, the ramblings of our mind, the more we start to get to the core of things. I would suggest, God is at our core.

When we let go of ourselves, or who we think are ourselves, and still our mind so that we are an observor to our illusions, to our mind's wanderings, we start to see things more clearly and we start to open our hearts up to God's reality more and more as we become less and less cluttered and hindered by the insufficient things we sometimes cling to for security in our ever-shifting worlds. The fact is, life is impermanent and sometimes it can be downright full of despair and suffering, filled with uncertainty, etc. That is why it is much to our benefit as well as salvation that we cling to the only sure rock there is in which to steady our uneven gait through this life...and that is God. And I believe there is much benefit in centering ourselves and our mind on God and in His presence. It provides us with peace, with direction and with a sense of compassion that we most undoubtedly will extend to others.

On this topic John of the cross wrote:

A soul makes room for God by wiping away all the smudges and smears of attachment. By uniting its will perfectly to God's; for to love is to labor to divest and deprive oneself for God of all that is not God. When this is done the soul will be illumined by and transformed in God.

There are many great writers who speak a lot more eloquently and with more experience than I on this subject. I will be sure to quote passages from them over time on this blog so that maybe we can learn together some of the wisdom and insight God has revealed to them. We all have much to learn from one another, but ultimately God is our infallible source of truth and all His truth is in His Word, so we will explore what His Word has to say about all of this as well.

What are your thoughts? Your experiences, if any on contemplative prayer and Christian meditation?

~many blessings