Contemplative prayer
Contemplation 10 – The endgame
28/07/24 23:10 Filed in: Christianity
In a game of chess, the endgame is the final stage. Most of the pieces have been exchanged. In the simplicity and clarity of endgame positions, we reach the essence: we see the game as it really is. And so it is in the world of contemplation. In a previous post I wrote of the transition from doing contemplative prayer to becoming contemplative people. In this final post I am looking at some features of the developed stage of the contemplative life. It doesn’t mean this is where I am, only that I have read enough and experienced enough to know what this stage looks like. Read More…
Contemplation 9 – Darkness
21/07/24 22:47 Filed in: Christianity
In spiritual terms, light and darkness correspond to the seeming presence and absence of God. There are two kinds of spiritual darkness: man-made and God-given. This post covers both, but mainly the latter. Read More…
Contemplation 8 – Other organisations
08/07/24 07:47 Filed in: Christianity
The Julian Meetings is not the only organisation that supports group contemplative prayer. Others include Contemplative Outreach, the Fellowship of Contemplative Prayer, and the World Community for Christian Meditation. I do not have personal experience of these but thought it worth explaining what I have learned about them, and what distinguishes them from each other and from the Julian Meetings. At the end I comment on the nearest thing to a doctrinal difference that you find in the world of contemplative prayer. Read More…
Contemplation 7 – The Julian Meetings
02/07/24 11:16 Filed in: Christianity
The Julian Meetings is a national, UK-based organisation which fosters the teaching and practice of contemplative prayer. It works primarily through a network of local groups but its resources are available to individuals also. This is the only contemplative prayer organisation of which I have direct first-hand knowledge. JM, as it’s known for short, has been part of my life, in and out, for almost 30 years. So this post is all about the Julian Meetings then and now, and my interaction with it, and why it continues to be relevant in a changing world. Read More…
Contemplation 6 – From singular to plural
22/06/24 10:44 Filed in: Christianity
When I first started to pray contemplatively, in the 1990s, I did so on my own. It was my discovery and my response. It did not take long for me to realise that other people were praying in the same way. Not only that, they were praying in the same way as each other, at the same time, and in the same place. So this post is all about the group experience of contemplative prayer. How does it work, what are its benefits, what does it say about our life in community? Read More…
Contemplation 5 – The ethical life
22/06/24 06:39 Filed in: Christianity
In an earlier post I drew attention to the close connection between prayer and life. Prayer changes us: we live differently. What does this mean in practice? What sort of people do we become when we pray? Is contemplation unique? Read More…
Only connect
17/06/24 23:30 Filed in: Christianity
‘Only connect’ is the epigraph at the start of EM Forster’s novel Howard’s End. In the novel its primary meaning is that we need to connect the head and the heart – ‘the prose and the passion’ – in order to become unified human beings. A secondary meaning is that we should put our greatest energy into personal relationships. Our deep connections with other people are what make our lives significant. But I want to focus on a third meaning which has nothing to do with the novel. This is the capacity of the human mind to see connections and patterns between things which appear very different. So in this post: what connects the contemplative life, the Christian writer CS Lewis, and the attitude of the Church of England to matters of gender and sexuality? Read More…
Contemplation 4 – Always and everywhere
14/06/24 20:55 Filed in: Christianity
If we are faithful in the practice of contemplation – if it becomes part of our life on a daily basis – then a number of changes will take place inside us. These are the fruits of prayer. They are not the direct result of anything we do. Instead this is the work of God, responding to us opening ourselves to him. So: what happens when we pray like this? Read More…
Contemplation 3 – Distractions
12/06/24 21:05 Filed in: Christianity
One of the main themes of contemplation is stillness – moving from stillness of body to stillness of mind and eventually stillness of heart. But in practice, many people experience something quite different. As soon as they try to be quiet before God, distracting thoughts and emotions fill their mind and take away their focus. Why does this happen? What does it say about our prayer? And what can we do about it? Read More…
Contemplation 2 – Basics
10/06/24 05:47 Filed in: Christianity
Those who are new to this kind of prayer might ask some basic questions. What do I do? For how long? When and where? What actually happens? There are no right and wrong answers. I can only speak from my experience and from what I have read. Read More…
Contemplation 1 – Introduction
07/06/24 01:05 Filed in: Christianity
Contemplative prayer is sometimes known as Christian meditation, or waiting on God in the silence. It is a form of prayer in which we open ourselves to God and seek to remain in his presence without words. We do not have to do anything. Instead it is God who does all the work, within us, in ways too deep to comprehend. Read More…