Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Contemplative
Living in the Spirit of Contemplative Prayer

Living in the Spirit of Contemplative Prayer

Last updated on: August 28, 2020 at 5:29 pm by Carl "Skye" McColman

Living in the Spirit of Contemplative Prayer 2020-08-28T17:29:09-04:00 Carl "Skye" McColman

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

What does it mean to live a contemplative life?

Especially for those of us who are not called to live in a monastery or some other form of intentional religious community, discerning how contemplative and mystical spirituality can shape, inform and bless our lives may be a challenge.

It’s one thing to be interested in mysticism, or contemplation, or the teachings and wisdom of the great mystics. Reading about the mystics and learning all you can about them is all fine, well and good. So, for that matter, is going on a retreat or attending a Centering Prayer workshop.

But it’s another thing altogether to live according to such wisdom. The day-in, day-out, unglamorous, unexciting routine of giving one’s live to the contemplative path. How do we do this — and persevere in it?

Most of us live very busy and frenetic lives. We have demanding careers, children and other family members who need our love and attention, and a never-ending onslaught of information and programming that enters our lives through television, the internet or our smartphones.

How do we sort through it all? How do we discern the contemplative, mystical path that we are called to follow?

I believe the answer to these questions can only come through prayer.

A Unique Path

The saints and mystics do not give us a one-size-fits-all plan for “becoming a contemplative” or “living a mystical life.” Really, the heart of mystical spirituality is to cultivate a meaningful, intimate relationship with God — and then to let the Spirit guide us, each in our own unique way, into what a truly contemplative life looks like.

For each of us, it will be a unique path. No one can walk it for us. We have to find our own path for ourselves.

Brian McLaren wrote a book about the spiritual life called We Make the Road by Walking. I haven’t read it, but there’s wisdom in the title itself. But for a contemplative life, I’d amend it this way: “We make the road by walking… under the guidance of the Spirit.”

My friend Linda, whom I know as a fellow Lay Cistercian of the Monastery of the Holy Spirit here in Georgia, has a wonderful insight into this task of discerning how to live a contemplative life. It begins with prayer.

We’ve talked about it on different occasions. She mentions that, on a regular basis, she brings questions like this into time of her morning prayer:

God, how do I live my contemplative vocation today?

God, help me to understand what it means to live in a spirit of contemplative prayer and sacrifice.

This second way of expressing her prayer comes directly from our Profession Statement as Lay Cistercians. When we make our life-long promises, we make a statement like this:

I promise to strive for a daily conversion of life as my free response to the love of God… to live in a spirit of contemplative prayer and sacrifice in obedience to God’s universal call to holiness.

While I understand that most readers of this blog are not Lay Cistercians, I suspect anyone who has read this far would join Linda and me and so many others in considering contemplative spirituality to be at their heart of our life and faithful response to the God who is Love.

Living into the Contemplative Vocation

A few years back I wrote a book called Answering the Contemplative Call. The title was carefully chosen: I do believe the contemplative life is a calling, that God is the active agent. Anyone who feels drawn to learning about the mystics, reading their wisdom, discovering their prayer practices, and incorporating contemplative forms of prayer and meditation into our lives, does so because the Holy Spirit is stirring our hearts.

So questions like “How do I live in the spirit of contemplative prayer?” or “How do I live a truly contemplative life?” really boil down to this: “How can I discern, and respond to, the leading of the Spirit in my life?”

Because, ultimately, if you want to live a contemplative life, to embrace the mystical path, to live into your vocation as a contemplative — it all begins with fostering intimacy with God. In her autobiography, Teresa of Ávila describes “mental prayer” (the traditional name for contemplative forms of prayer) as “nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us.”

So to live in the spirit of contemplative prayer means calibrating our lives to the love of God. It means giving ourselves to God, not as an abstract idea, but as a living presence that we can discover in our hearts.

Everything else from the world of Christian contemplation and mysticism: silent prayer, Centering Prayer, reading the mystics, working with a spiritual director, going on retreat… it all points back to this essential task: fall in love with the God who loves you, the God who IS Love. And having fallen in love with the God who is Love, make time every day to get to know the God-of-Love more intimately, more closely, more fully.

And step by baby step, you will live — and love — your way into a truly contemplative life.

Enjoy reading this blog?
Click here to become a patron.

mystical Christianity

mystical life

Mysticism

Previous Post

August 17, 2020

In Defense of Forgiveness

Next Post

September 9, 2020 Eternal Heart: The Mystical Path to a Joyful Life (Pre-Order Now)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Activism Announcements Art Books Catholicism Celtic Christianity Christian mysticism Christianity Contemplation Current events Etc. Family humor interfaith dialogue Interfaith Wisdom Interspirituality Lay Cistercians Living the Faith Meditation movies Mysticism Mystics nature Poetry Reviews Scripture silence Spirituality Uncategorized Writing

Select a Month February 2025 January 2025 November 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 March 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 August 2023 June 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 October 2013 September 2013 July 2013 May 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 March 2012 December 2011 September 2011 October 2010 August 2010 March 2010 September 2009 July 2008 January 2008 December 2007 September 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2004

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How many days did God take to create the world?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Seven Six Ten Five

Support this
Column