Greetings in the Name of the Lord, 

Without question the practices of mindfulness and mediation have made their way into mainstream secular society. Part of the reason for this is that there has been a great deal of research that shows the benefits of daily meditation. I also have to think the growth of secular meditation is a result of humanity’s innate curiosity regarding the divine, and that at least some of the interest is a response to this internal desire, and since more and more people identify as non-religious, the secular pathways currently offer the most accessible pathway.

Often, these secular pathways are about creating a little stillness in the midst of a mind that might be running wild with thoughts, an effort to slow down a little bit and think more clearly. If we think about how stimulant rich the world around us is today, the benefits of slowing down a bit are obvious.

All that said, Chrisitan contemplation, as practiced by the Mystics, is a different sort of practice. Yes, silence and stillness are part of the practice, but the silence and/or stillness are not the end goal. Within Christian contemplative practice and Christian Mysticism, the end goal is an encounter with God. The silence/stillness is intended to be a pathway towards that encounter with God. In other words, in Christian contemplative practice, the silence/stillness is a means to an end, not the end in itself.

St John of the Cross, a 16th century Spanish monk speaks about the importance of silence. St. John of the Cross is best known for his work “The Dark Night of the Soul” which describes the struggle that often comes with spiritual transformation, but he also oversaw several monasteries and convents as an abbot. Part of his work as an abbot was instructing monks and nuns on Contemplative Practice.  His students, so impressed by his instruction, went about collecting his “sayings” and compiling them, numbering them, and publishing them.

For this week, I want to look at saying #100: The Father spoke one Word, which was his Son, and this Word God speaks always in eternal silence, and in silence must it be heard by the soul.

Sit with this saying for just a moment and see what it says to you while you sit with it and let it roll around your mind a little bit.

This is foundational to Christian Mysticism, this idea of hearing with the soul, hearing and experiencing beyond one’s immediate senses--experiencing it as something deeper. We read and study the Gospels to get a sense of Jesus and the life He led and the kind of Love He Loved, but those all point to Jesus, they are not Jesus Himself. But the Love Jesus lived is something we can experience, something we can find in silence, in quieting ourselves and getting to know the Love Jesus put into the world. The Gospels are a map to help us find the True Word, the Divine Logos, in silence and prayer. When we experience that Love, the only option that is left is to share that Love with the world, a world in need of that Love.

This is the root of all that we do as followers of Christ, we encounter the Love given by Christ, a divine Love, allowing ourselves to be transformed by it, and then sharing it, freely and without reservation.

In Peace,

Mike