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The Christian life is one of progress through Grace, or sanctification. Richard of St. Victor (b. c. 1123-d. 1173), a native of Scotland, in the school of what some have called the School of St. Victor, wrote in-depth on this progress. Richard presents spiritual growth in images of crawling, walking, and flying.
1) Crawling
Crawling is cognitio, or cognition. Cognition is imagination; this is like to crawling on the ground.
2) Walking
Walking is meditatio, or meditation. Meditation balances effort and results.
3) Flying
Flying is contemplatio, or contemplation. Here, results come without effort.
This is a natural emergence of spiritual consciousness and spiritual practice. All three, taught Richard, are good. The mind can direct a person from crawling to walking, and from walking to flying.
Thus, this is a natural process, and each human has the potential of developing the potential of contemplation. However, a person must evolve the capacities, even as a child learns to walk only after crawling. Of course, we do not have wings, so the analogy ends there. But, the child must learn to walk before running.
In my teaching, reflecting the Teachers on contemplation, I now summarize the three in terms of prayer.
1) A person learns to pray with all effort and no openness, or receptivity. Prayer comes from cognition forming words and ideas. Prayer, then, is a flow of informational data transmitted from the person to God. This is the beginning of prayer. This is intellection, thoroughly.
2) A person learns how to be reflective in prayer, receptive to the Spirit. The person integrates cognition with openness and receptivity, as taught in methods of meditation. By meditation, I mean any form of prayer engaging words or images, and beyond the beginning practice of simply speaking toward God. Here images or words are used to center the Self with God; the goal is not transmitting linear information, but to enjoy communion with the Trinity.
3) A person moves through meditation to the transcendence of all cognition and effort. Richard, rightly, teaches here that the mind attains to God. Here, as he notes, an intuitive, nonlinear knowledge is the knowledge of experience of union with God. Here, the person has moved from relating to God, and through relating with God, and enjoys, now, being in God.
We can image this progress as follows. Imagine two circles side by side. One circle directs energy to another circle. This is analogous to cognition: the giving of requests, thanksgivings, praises, and to God as an object outside the person. Next, imagine two circles. Each circle is joined side to side, and they are enjoying intimate fellowship, sharing energy. This is meditation: this is communion. Now, imagine the two circles merge and appear to be one circle, though they are two joined in union. The parameters of the circles overlap, even as the contemplative enjoys oneness-in-distinction with the Blessed Trinity.
Now, let us think on this as it relates to the Church. First, we apply this to the image of crawling, walking, and running: since we cannot fly. Imagine a world where no child is encouraged or tries to grow beyond crawling. So, every person grows up crawlers. Or, imagine a world where children are encouraged and try to learn how to walk. They crawl and walk, but that is all. They never try to run, in fact, they are not encouraged to run. We, now, have a crawling and walking world. But, what if we are all meant to develop the potential to run? Then, we would be encouraged and taught to do so, even as we are, now. And, would it be logical in a running world for those unwilling to grow beyond crawling or walking to criticize someone for running? ... to discourage someone from trying to learn to run?
Then, why do most church leaders and churches only encourage and practice crawling spiritually and, of all things, present this cognition in prayer and life as the ultimate of spiritual growth in this life? They may relegate meditation as appropriate to a few persons and contemplation for only a few "saints." And, often, anything regarding meditation and contemplation is attacked as un-Christian, often under the label "Eastern Religion." And, this, even though meditation and contemplation go back to the Early Church.
Every Christian is to grow into the proficiency of use of cognition, meditation, and contemplation. That I hear not everyone is called to Contemplative Prayer is a sad example of the resistance and misunderstanding of a natural part of the Christian discipleship. And, when a person says, "I cannot do it," he is saying nothing more than the crawling child saying, "I cannot walk," or the walking child saying, "I cannot run." And, is it possible many persons are just too unwilling to give up the control implied in contemplation, wherein we transcend our efforts completely to the workings of the Holy Spirit? Possibly, many persons think that Grace is not adequate to work well apart from our effort, after our effort cooperating with Grace leads fully to Grace.
St. Paul speaks to us, urging us Christians to go on to wholeness in Christ, through Grace:
1Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity (or, wholeness), not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2and of instruction about washings (or, baptisms), the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3And this we will do if God permits. (Hebrews 6.1-3, ESV)
Wholeness in Christ means the Holy Spirit leading us, through Christ and to the Father, to integrate the capabilities and practice of application of reason, the use of meditation, and the enjoyment of union with God. We are given the potential and call to fulfill the Image of God through relating to the Trinity, communing with the Trinity, and enjoying union in the Trinity.
*OneLife writings are offered by Brian K. Wilcox, a United Methodist pastor serving in the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church. Brian lives a vowed contemplative life with his two dogs, Bandit Ty and St. Francis, in North Florida. OneLife writings are for anyone seeking to live and share love, joy, and peace in the world and in devotion to God as she or he best understands God.
The Peace of Christ to All!
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