The distinction has always been made between the "Essence" of God and the "Energies" of God. In the inner journey of meditation, stillness, contemplation, centering prayer, scripture reading, lectio divina, and any other of the limbs of spiritual practice we are not actually approaching the sheer "Essence" of the LORD. Rather we are being drawn by His grace to participate in the "Energies" of the LORD.
This distinction seems perhaps philosophical and somewhat pedantic in nature, but it has always been at the root of the discussion spiritual disciplines that have emerged from the inception of the Church and the teachings of the Fathers and Mothers of the Church. This is made at the outset lest anyone who seeks the LORD brag and boast through prelest that they have attained something better than others - something more spiritual.
The disciples of Jesus and the apostolic tradition did not the faithful to establish some hierarchical level system of initiation and spiritual supremacy. This was critical especially during the rise of Gnosticism. For the simple ones of us who just wish to devote our lives to growing into the Image of the Son, it is still important lest we overstep our own humility and see our spiritual practice as something that earns us grace. Our practice never makes us somehow "closer" to God than others.
We are only doing what is required of us - nothing more. It should make us more humble.
I like what Father Thomas Keating has to offer up on this topic of experiencing the Divine One - the LORD - in our spiritual practice: "Anything that we perceive of God can only be a radiance of His presence and not God as He is in Himself. When the divine light strikes the human mind, it breaks down into many aspects just as a ray of ordinary light, when it strikes a prism, breaks down into varied colors of the spectrum. There is nothing wrong with distinguishing different aspects of the Ultimate Mystery, but it would be a mistake to identify them with the inaccessible Light. The attraction to let go of spiritual consolation in order to let God act with complete freedom is the persistent attraction of the SPIRIT. The more one lets go, the stronger the presence of the SPIRIT becomes. The Ultimate Mystery becomes the Ultimate Presence." - Open Mind, Open Heart.
Next blog we'll discuss keeping a journal as a preparatory practice for our discussions and practices of spiritual direction + formation.
Peace and grace to you.
ReplyDeleteThere are really two topics addressed, one pertaining to the blog in general and the other generated after reading the 12/5 day's post.
"When is the appropriate time in our relationship with the Lord to study along with your course material contained within your blog? After accepting Christ as our Lord we naturally seek him with our mortal components, using our intellect, our emotion and our physical being. Reading and understanding scripture, praying to God with our heart and our mind seem to be the first steps in our relationship with God and need to come before the closer more spiritual relationship realized in a more contemplative lifestyle. How do I know I am ready for this blog?
### My original comments pertaining to the post start here ###
Submitted for your approval, to make sure I have my thinking straight before jumping into practice
As one who recently started to study contemplation it is my understanding that the goal is to get as close to God as possible in this life. This closeness is completely the work of God and is a spiritual one in that God in communing with our soul. This communication is understood by the soul, but not by our mortal components, such as intellect, emotion or physical sensations, although there may be secondary (side) affects that are manifested in these mortal components.
The steps in spiritual formation are to remove any obstacle that would prevent God from initiating communion with our soul, such as purging ourselves of sin through confession and repentance. There are no positive steps for us to take. Once all obstacles are removed we wait for God and he does all the work.
Interjecting my believe here, that it is God's desire to have a relationship with us and God will quickly establish one with our soul as he has when we use our mortal components."
Thank you for your time,
Bob
Sensational observations.
ReplyDeleteMy personal belief is that folks can enter into the conversation wherever they are. If they have a a formal commitment to the LORD already the practices can feed that. If the do not, the practices can feed that. Wesley has some great things to say about "PREVENIENT GRACE". Everything works towards drawing us in to the fold.
When it comes to contemplation and formation/direction: contemplation is really about clearing out a place for us to sit and allow the LORD to do some work in us. Keep in mind that there are other practices in formation/direction that do similar things.
There is welcoming prayer which has one focus, then visualization which has another. Meditation is a bit different from contemplation and those terms may yield different interpretations when you look at Eastern Christianity versus Western.
So, while the comments on contemplation are right on, they may not be appropriate for Lectio Divina which is all about working with scripture to hear what the LORD has to say to us, BUT it also offers a tool to help us to mold our mind and our thinking apparatus into something that is consistent with scripture so that we are living a just and holy life. It functions on a moral and social level as well.
So part of what we will be noticing is that some of the practices that folks take on in their relationship with the LORD really do function on many different layers and levels at once. As we grow in the LORD we should be able to see how this happens since we are being exposed - over time - to varying situations in our lives that break us open to understanding.