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Wisdom Quote
One thing seems certain. It is no good angling for the rich moments. God sometimes seems to speak to us most intimately when He catches us, as it were, off our guard. Our preparations to receive Him sometimes have the opposite effect. Doesn't Charles Williams say somewhere that the altar must often be built in one place in order that the fire from heaven may descend somewhere else?
*C. S. Lewis. Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer
Comments
When we speak of contemplation we must remember this gift of Grace is not simply a way of enlightenment or divinization. Certainly, contemplation is a way to enlightenment of the self to realize the True Self. Surely, contemplation is a path toward divinization~the being transformed into full Godness by God.
Contemplation is essentially worship. This contemplative worship is a reciprocal intimacy between Immensity and us, more rich for it is contemplative. Regardless of our talk about union with God, we remain the little and humbled ones in awe of Infinite Wisdom, Majesty, and Love.
Contemplation teaches us that we do not control the Spirit of this Worship. We can do our best to position to receive the Love. The Love, however, has freedom of its own~is Freedom. Sometimes our Lord of Love will feel near, sometimes far away, sometimes absent.
By contemplation we learn that the Beautiful Voice arises in the most unlikely times, including those when we are not even ready to hear. We come to discover visions can arise at the most unlikely places. Insights can erupt outside of any context usually linked with worship. Life becomes worship; the world, each moment, each relationship ... an altar. We never know when fire will come down and consume our heart, lifting it up like smoke into the Heart of the Beloved, but we can keep placing our heart on the altar~the fire will come, until then, we keep adoring and dancing with the One.
Suggested Reflection
What is worship to you?
What does it mean to say Life becomes worship.
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