Contemplative Prayer (PART VI - Practice)

Saying that “we do not find our own center; it finds us…we do not think ourselves into new ways of living.  We live ourselves into new ways of thinking” is one thing (Rohr 2003, 19).  But getting to a place were we both believe and actively practice it is difficult.  It requires a departure from the thinking of culture, from Plato, from Aristotle, even the Church at times.  To become stable in our interruptions and to live lives of contemplative prayer takes time, effort, and change in perspective.
   
To enter into contemplative prayer in 2012, several practices help to create the necessary stability, interruption, and change to reorient how we see and perceive things.  First, it is important to practice silence and solitude.  Both are difficult.  They are contrary to the hyper-paced world of consumerism and productivity, but are vital components to the contemplative prayer life. Thibodeaux argues that “I can have silence without solitude, but I cannot have solitude without being silent” (Thibodeaux 2001, 41).  Slowing down and ridding oneself of distraction take practice, time, and dedication. 
   
To aid the practice of silence and solitude, “ready-made prayers” become increasingly helpful (Thibodeaux 2001, 55).  To repetitively pray, “God’s will be done,” or The Lord’s Prayer, the individual can begin to focus on God more intimately and escape the to-do lists and other tasks and thoughts that distract from silence and solitude.  Over time, these prayers seep into all thoughts, leaving the individual with a practice that allows a more continued silence, solitude, and prayer, which is now part of the natural flow of one’s day.  God is on our lips and in our minds, and becomes the filter for which life is now lived. 
   
Another effective prayer is, “I am God’s subject…what does my King expect of me?  What do I expect of my King?  How far will I go in service to Him?  How loyal am I?  How loyal do I want to be?” (Thibodeaux 2001, 56).  This is another centering prayer that, over time and practice, becomes the filter to how all of life is lived.  We enter into relationships seeking what God’s will, would be.  We complete our mundane tasks in light of them being a service to God.  This truly changes everything.  There is no longer a segment of life with God, and a segment with the world.  This prayer relishes the scriptural truth that “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it,” and that everything we say and do, have Kingdom implications.  The contemplative prayer is now a regular piece that connects everything. 
   
Finally, to practice a contemplative prayer life that provides stability and interruption, leads us to Thibodeaux’s conclusion, that “When I finally painfully turn my eyes away from my own reflection and look upon the face of God, I am so struck by God’s beauty that I never look upon myself again” (Thibodeaux 2001, 145).  Left to our own devices, we feel the need to justify time and efforts spent with God in contemplative prayer.  Our culture tells us that in all things there is a return on investment, and that through this time of contemplation we should gain an actionable plan or an awareness that betters us in such a way that validates the time and effort put out.  However, as we practice contemplative prayer, we understand that God’s purposes are not necessarily the world’s purposes, and that being with Him is sufficient enough.  God is more than enough.  The contemplative prayer shows us that over and over again. 

Peace,
Ross

p.s. tomorrow will be the final PART to this series!

Binding & Loosing

I thought it'd be interesting to write/think/discuss the biblical concept of binding and loosing in today's post.

Binding and loosing is an originally Jewish phrase which appears in the New Testament, as well as in the Targum. In usage to bind and to loose mean simply to forbid by an indisputable authority, and to permit by an indisputable authority.

Jesus continues the early Jewish discussion and notion in Matthew 18, when he says, "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

What exactly does this mean?
I'm not going to pretend to have the right answer.
But what I can do is offer an opinion (which I think has a biblical, contextual, and historical basis.)

Could Jesus be speaking to those of us that create laws or ways of living that might be otherwise different than how we've interpreted God's original intention? By that I mean, God gives us a wide open grace and compassion and justice, that seems to be including all of humanity, but for some, we minimize the huge-ness of God to fit our particular theologies, doctrines, orthodoxies, denominations, and networks. In doing so, are we creating new realities with eternal consequences (both good and bad)?

Think about the questions posed to Jesus regarding the Kingdom of God...a rich young ruler asks how he might inherit it, and Jesus speaks in economic terms. That man is certainly bound by an economic identity and way of life. The way(s) he binds and looses his money on earth will likewise resemble eternity.

When a farmer asks Jesus about the Kingdom of God, Jesus speaks in agricultural terms, because that man's identity, calendar, and way of life revolves around crops and cultivation.

When the church leaders ask about the Kingdom of God, Jesus speaks of a wedding banquet which is more inclusive than they would like.

Again, it seems Jesus is tying identity to what is bound and loosed. He goes beyond the hard-lined black and white-ness of what the Old Testament seems to say, and creates new realities.

Today we find ourselves in various congregations that label certain things taboo or heretical, while other congregations may not. Does this mean there's not a specific right or wrong (method to inheriting the Kingdom of God)? Perhaps, perhaps not.

But in each of these cases, the Kingdom of God is merited, understood, and lived in different ways: giving away money, planting seeds and letting weeds grow amongst them, and being inclusive as to who's seated at the wedding party.

Remember, in Revelation we're also told that the gates of heaven are left wide open (Revelation 21:25). So just perhaps those black and white issues that we tend to label closed or open handed, will have eternal implications. Perhaps we are creating eternal realities. Perhaps eternity doesn't begin at death, but birth.

Peace,
Ross