Sorry it took me so long to respond. I was reading Happy Are the Poor. The point that grabbed my attention was that the early experiences of contemplation only involve the will so they are full of distraction which is nice to know when one can't go 5 minutes without being distracted. Also that not feeling God's presence is normal and one doesn't have to scream and yell at God and have a hissy fit over it like I did when this happened before. And I am trying to do God's will all the time but I still pray dear Lord please open the doors You want me to go through and close the rest. Because that makes figuring things out unnecessary. And I am still getting regularly in prayer. Trust Me which He probably wouldn't be hitting me over the head with if I did trust Him.
It seems that not just any child, before being corrupted by self-centered reasoning, is to be our model child. There is also this thing called Innocence. When we are finally ready to become One in God, it will be as though we are finally prepared to become, once again, as Innocent children. Having completed the transformations of Contemplation, Union in Love in God becomes the Final State of all Saints.
And what constitutes an Innocent Child? A child who has not been injured, thereby having truly learned that not all is good in their experience. To be (precisely the first) to take the innocence of a particular child, still a forgivable sin, if repented, but perhaps not often repented, elicits the gravest of warnings. "Better to be cast into the sea with a millstone around one's neck."
And it may well be that an innocent child, by forgiving, say, a parent who has just had a bad moment... Well, perhaps innate forgiveness will preserve this child's innocence. We need not terrify ourselves by imagining that First Innocence must be especially fragile. The less fragile that Innocence, the graver the sin of breaking it.
And how do you or I, innocence long lost, return to that State? My poor understanding is that this State is what is to be entered after Contemplations are complete. Contemplation and forgiveness of every offence set the stage.
Rather than succumb to editing the dog's breakfast recently presented, I might attempt to say what contemplation in the context of prayer IS.
In the absence of making any effort, I merely wait without expectation for God to infuse a gift as yet unknown, but to be recognized by me at some point. Hopefully, sooner.
I just wait.
As a child, I did wait in just that way for life to happen and for myself to become. Of course, with no such verbalized intention.
So, this is what it means to approach God as a child.
I can stop right here. My work is done. Happy trails to you, until we meet again.
Just now, said out loud, three times, "Jesus, I trust in You."
What is my understanding of contemplative prayer?
That it is NOT something I can do for myself.
Perhaps because I can do anything-at-all for myself, (however pathetic) I have this crazy notion that all that can be done regarding myself, I must do, myself.
"Be ye perfect as My Father is Perfect."
Me: "Yes Sir! I'm on it like white on rice! See You around. Have a Blessed day!"
In 25 words or less, that's the story of my not yet misspent life.
IOW, contemplative prayer is a mystery to me. Lower case "m" b/c from my humble perspective, this need not be a Mystery. No more than I must remain a mystery to myself, which, somehow, I persist in being.
We say, allow God to Act in our lives. The only problem is that allowing God does not commence until I stop being the sole actor on this stage (Encompassing the Whole Universe, thank you very much! Easy to understand that I would not exist if Creation did not exist as Necessary Context.)
Wow! That smells like pride, just a whiff.
Back to Trust in Jesus. Not that I should stop trusting that I am made in God's Image, and therefore of (infinite? value) to God, but that I am simply "made." I don't have to devalue anything good; I just have to value God most highly. When I put everything created under God, by loving Him the most, all that God has allowed and described as pleasing to Him, I may participate in. Limited only by my tiny band width, which is why it falls to me to make choices: To wash dishes responsibly, or to pray responsibly. But also, to keep my wedding vows to a non-believer, especially because I now believe, and because He wants me to prioritize my life in Him accordingly. (Because He loves her far more perfectly than I yet can.) And just maybe He has spared me for some Purpose of His own...
Sorry it took me so long to respond. I was reading Happy Are the Poor. The point that grabbed my attention was that the early experiences of contemplation only involve the will so they are full of distraction which is nice to know when one can't go 5 minutes without being distracted. Also that not feeling God's presence is normal and one doesn't have to scream and yell at God and have a hissy fit over it like I did when this happened before. And I am trying to do God's will all the time but I still pray dear Lord please open the doors You want me to go through and close the rest. Because that makes figuring things out unnecessary. And I am still getting regularly in prayer. Trust Me which He probably wouldn't be hitting me over the head with if I did trust Him.
Except. Forgive me, please.
It seems that not just any child, before being corrupted by self-centered reasoning, is to be our model child. There is also this thing called Innocence. When we are finally ready to become One in God, it will be as though we are finally prepared to become, once again, as Innocent children. Having completed the transformations of Contemplation, Union in Love in God becomes the Final State of all Saints.
And what constitutes an Innocent Child? A child who has not been injured, thereby having truly learned that not all is good in their experience. To be (precisely the first) to take the innocence of a particular child, still a forgivable sin, if repented, but perhaps not often repented, elicits the gravest of warnings. "Better to be cast into the sea with a millstone around one's neck."
And it may well be that an innocent child, by forgiving, say, a parent who has just had a bad moment... Well, perhaps innate forgiveness will preserve this child's innocence. We need not terrify ourselves by imagining that First Innocence must be especially fragile. The less fragile that Innocence, the graver the sin of breaking it.
And how do you or I, innocence long lost, return to that State? My poor understanding is that this State is what is to be entered after Contemplations are complete. Contemplation and forgiveness of every offence set the stage.
Rather than succumb to editing the dog's breakfast recently presented, I might attempt to say what contemplation in the context of prayer IS.
In the absence of making any effort, I merely wait without expectation for God to infuse a gift as yet unknown, but to be recognized by me at some point. Hopefully, sooner.
I just wait.
As a child, I did wait in just that way for life to happen and for myself to become. Of course, with no such verbalized intention.
So, this is what it means to approach God as a child.
I can stop right here. My work is done. Happy trails to you, until we meet again.
"Trust in Jesus"
Just now, said out loud, three times, "Jesus, I trust in You."
What is my understanding of contemplative prayer?
That it is NOT something I can do for myself.
Perhaps because I can do anything-at-all for myself, (however pathetic) I have this crazy notion that all that can be done regarding myself, I must do, myself.
"Be ye perfect as My Father is Perfect."
Me: "Yes Sir! I'm on it like white on rice! See You around. Have a Blessed day!"
In 25 words or less, that's the story of my not yet misspent life.
IOW, contemplative prayer is a mystery to me. Lower case "m" b/c from my humble perspective, this need not be a Mystery. No more than I must remain a mystery to myself, which, somehow, I persist in being.
We say, allow God to Act in our lives. The only problem is that allowing God does not commence until I stop being the sole actor on this stage (Encompassing the Whole Universe, thank you very much! Easy to understand that I would not exist if Creation did not exist as Necessary Context.)
Wow! That smells like pride, just a whiff.
Back to Trust in Jesus. Not that I should stop trusting that I am made in God's Image, and therefore of (infinite? value) to God, but that I am simply "made." I don't have to devalue anything good; I just have to value God most highly. When I put everything created under God, by loving Him the most, all that God has allowed and described as pleasing to Him, I may participate in. Limited only by my tiny band width, which is why it falls to me to make choices: To wash dishes responsibly, or to pray responsibly. But also, to keep my wedding vows to a non-believer, especially because I now believe, and because He wants me to prioritize my life in Him accordingly. (Because He loves her far more perfectly than I yet can.) And just maybe He has spared me for some Purpose of His own...
Ya think?