Contemplative Christian

The Judeo-Christian tradition of contemplation and prayer dates back to the earliest Christian church and beyond. The exercise of contemplation in prayer is ancient, and shows up in every major religion in some form. Buddhists are deeply contemplative, disciplined observers of their own minds, dedicated to understanding, accepting and overcoming suffering. Hindu mystics have contemplated the many attributes of God and developed a dynamic system of worship that is often mistaken as polytheistic, by westerners and even by Hindus. Sufis, who make up the mystical arm of Islam, have traditions of deep, wild mystical prayer expressed in dance and poetry.

In the Christian tradition, the earliest forms of contemplative prayer are attributed to ascetic monks living in the desert in the first few centuries following Christ’s death and resurrection. Commonly referred to as the “desert fathers”, these monks lived simple lives in the deserts of Egypt, Palestine and Syria. This group included and influenced church fathers like St. Augustine and St. Gregory the Great in the West, and Pseudo-Dionysius and the Hesychasts in the East. One of my favorite forms of prayer attributed to this group is the simple prayer of Jesus’ name…a one-word prayer of surrender to Christ, again, and again.

The mystical tradition was reinvigorated again in the Middle Ages, through St. Bernard of Clarivaux, St. Hildegard, Meister Eckhart, Ruysbroek, Tauler and others. Thomas A’Kempis, writer of Imitation of Christ, later followed, as well as Julian of Norwich, and the anonymous author of The Cloud of Unknowing. It continued in the post-Reformation church with St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Therese of Lisieux, and St. Grancis de Sales. Ignatius of Loyola’s order of Jesuits began and continued in the contemplative tradition, and there were many others who contributed.¹

The point of all this is simply to acknowledge that contemplative prayer is not a modern, new age belief system, but a beautiful, long-standing tradition of seeking union with Christ through prayer and meditation. The bible is full of instances of this kind of relating to God, from Solomon’s achingly intimate, metaphorical Song, to Paul’s encouragement of a deep knowledge (gnosis) of God through prayer and by grace. I believe Jesus established this pattern of prayer as well, teaching contemplation in parables, and by his example: constantly finding time for solitude and silence, pouring Himself out to the Father in prayer.

In the modern church, Trappist monk Thomas Merton certainly renewed interest in contemplation, and the Jesuit and Carmelite orders have followed suit. The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius are now being taught regularly through Jesuit Retreat Centers. The parallel efforts of Thomas Keating and John Main have brought Centering Prayer and Christian Meditation, respectively, into the mainstream. And, I can’t talk about contemplation without mentioning Richard Rohr, director of the Center for Action and Contemplation, whose writing has deeply touched me on my journey.

The Protestant Church can’t boast of this kind of historical tradition, as its concern for the Bible as sole truth has limited its receptivity. However, its contemplative practices have no doubt existed along the way, and are well established today. With the exception of some evangelical or especially conservative churches, there are deliberate efforts to encourage contemplative prayer in Protestant congregations throughout the United States. I’ve seen centering prayer and Lectio Divina programs in Presbyterian and Episcopal churches, and the Pentecostal movement within the evangelical church has an enthusiastic appreciation for the Spirit in prayer. Finally, the emerging church movement, which reaches across denominational and theological divides, inevitably and fearlessly seeks authentic union with Christ and may well be essentially contemplative in nature.

I love the description of contemplation published on the website of Contemplative Outreach, the organization primarily responsible for the Centering Prayer movement:

Though it has acquired other meanings and connotations in recent centuries, the word contemplation had a specific meaning for the first 16 centuries of the Christian era. St. Gregory the Great summed up this meaning at the end of the 6th century as the knowledge of God that is impregnated with love. For Gregory, contemplation was both the fruit of reflecting on the Word of God in scripture and a precious gift of God. He referred to contemplation as “resting in God.” In this “resting,” the mind and heart are not so much seeking God, as beginning to experience what they have been seeking.²

¹ Source: Contemplative Outreach, 12/2008

² Source: Contemplative Outreach, 12/2008