Contemplative Prayer at Work in Our Lives

Resting in God's Presence and Action

Geoff Colvin

• Publisher: Resource Publications
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781666702705
• Topic: Théologie et religion
• Subtopic: Religion

While many practicing Christians are relatively satisfied with their prayer life, others are not. The latter often find their prayer practice has dried up. Their traditional forms of prayer at churches have become routine and empty. In a very real sense, there is a void in their spiritual lives. They want a deeper union with God yet experience an unsettling estrangement with their current pathway in prayer.In Contemplative Prayer at Work in Our Lives, Geoff Colvin draws on his own experiences, studies of spiritual literature, and participation in retreats and meditation groups, to unravel the challenging practice of contemplative prayer, a unique form of meditation involving very few words in silence and stillness. Contemplative prayer centers on the fundamental belief that God dwells not only in the world at large but also at the center of our being. This book offers Christians an approach for understanding contemplative prayer followed by hands-on detail for developing and sustaining a practice that hopefully leads to a richer and fuller spiritual journey to union with God.

Section Three

Building the Temple

The previous two sections, laying the foundations and erecting the pillars, addressed recommended structures that should be in place for establishing a contemplative prayer practice. Now it is time to add the specific steps for building the temple—your contemplative prayer practice. The procedural details presented in the following three chapters describe commonly used procedures for developing and sustaining a lifelong practice for engaging in contemplative prayer—resting in God’s presence and consenting to God’s action.

It cannot be overstressed that while these chapters are presented separately, there is a oneness to them in that there is a seamless transition from resting in God’s presence to consenting to God’s action. Jerry Braza, retreat leader and author, captures this singleness and interconnectedness of meditation and daily living with the following story:

A famous meditation teacher was once asked, “How long do you meditate each day?” The reply was, “Formally, for several hours per day I sit and meditate, and informally, I meditate all day long, with every activity becoming the focus of my meditation.”131

The meditation session, with God’s grace, helps to infuse the activities during the day with God’s presence, which in turn enables us to rest more fully in God’s presence during meditation. Contemplative prayer, in this way, becomes a way of life—a path to union with God.

131. Braza, Practicing Mindfulness, 39.

6

Establishing a Lifelong Practice of Prayer

Spiritual practice is not just sitting and meditation. Practice is looking, thinking, touching, drinking, eating and talking. Every act, every breath, and every step can be practice and can help us to become more ourselves.132

—Thich Nhat Hanh

At the outset, it is most important to treat contemplative prayer as one part of our prayer life as we undertake our spiritual journey to union with God. That is, our contemplative prayer practice is best linked to, and supported by, other spiritual activities, such as: group prayer, church-based services, spiritual reading, service work, and other forms of individual prayer. In this way, there is more chance of experiencing a spiritual unity in our journey through the mutual benefits of each practice. It is helpful then to examine our prayer life to see what we have in place, what might be missing, and what may need enhancing.

In addition, given we live in a very busy world with multiple demands on our time, it is also most important to attend to the many details involved in setting up and maintaining a contemplative prayer practice. Attending to these practical details helps to ensure that one’s practice gets a reasonably strong start and is more likely to continue.

In this chapter, two broad guidelines are described for developing and sustaining a contemplative prayer practice: 1) Engaging in supportive spiritual practices, and 2) fidelity to the logistics of a practice.

Engaging in Supportive Spiritual Practices

Spiritual Activities

Several spiritual activities are usually available that may be included, or are already included, in our spiritual practice. William Shannon et al. noted that Thomas Merton, among other spiritual leaders, was a strong advocate of integrating other spiritual practices or services with a contemplative prayer practice:

Merton stresses continually that there is no conflict between the public, communal prayer of the liturgy and personal and contemplative prayer . . . A contemplative appreciation of and participation in the mysterious transforming action of the liturgy will in turn provide the insight and impetus for authentic Christian action in the world.133

As with many practices, some activities may be helpful while others may not be a good fit. You are encouraged to experiment to find what works best for yourself and to modify the practices, where appropriate, to better meet your needs. The following practices and services, while not a complete list, are usually available:

Church Services

Contemplative prayer practitioners are frequently affiliated with a church group that affords them the opportunity to become involved with an array of regular and seasonal spiritual practices such as: liturgies, Mass, Eucharist, sacraments, rosary, Taizé prayer, stations of the cross, and other special prayer services. Participants find that these services are another way to pray and to enhance their spiritual journey. In addition, you may find strength and spiritual support from other members—the community bonding effect.

Retreats

Residential retreats are available throughout the United States, where there are opportunities for extended contemplative prayer sessions in silence and stillness, typically held in relaxing settings. These retreats are usually facilitated in small groups by a trained retreat leader. Residential retreats can range in duration from weekends to several weeks. In addition, many facilities make available the option of private retreats. Quite often though, people are unable to take the time away from home or work to participate in residential retreats. One-day or half-day local retreats are frequently available and can accommodate the needs of those wanting longer periods for meditation but who cannot get away for residential retreats. Some practitioners try to participate in a residential retreat on an annual basis and, at others times, include a one-day or half-day retreat. The combination of a residential retreat and a local short retreat helps to strengthen your daily contemplative prayer practice over the year.

Regular Spiritual Reading

Taking a few minutes each day to do some quiet spiritual reading is a well-recognized way to augment your contemplative prayer practice. The mere act of stopping to engage in some reading has merit in itself by helping to establish priorities, as well as developing t...