We ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord.
—Colossians 1:9–10
For Father Richard, contemplation cultivates an ability to discern right action:
Our goal consists in doing the will of God, but first we have to remove our attachment to our own will so that we can recognize the difference between the two. Throughout history, many people who did horrible things were convinced that they were doing God’s will. That’s why we have to find an instrument to distinguish between God and us. Paul calls this gift the discernment of spirits. We have to learn when our own spirit is at work and when the Spirit of God is at work.
The most convincing social activists in our country were and are people of prayer, like Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King Jr., Sister Simone Campbell, John Dear, and Jim Wallis. It’s important that we bring the contemplatives and the activists together in the Church and in the world, because neither group is credible without the other. Jesus went into the wilderness for forty days; only after that did he begin to preach the reign of God and to heal the sick. And along the way he kept reminding his disciples to withdraw and rest in quiet, peaceful places (see Mark 6:31).
With this withdrawal and this emptiness, we are, so to speak, cultivating fertile soil where we can be receptive to the seed of God’s word. I don’t believe that Jesus dumps the harvest into our laps. Rather, he shows us a process of growth. He shows us a way we can learn to hear God, a path of self-surrender and forgiveness. He trusts that his followers, as they practice this way of prayer, will learn to hear the truth ever more clearly. The great truth will always lie beyond us. The great truth of God will never underpin a small world. This means that the Christian life must be a constant journey back and forth between the radical way inward and the radical way outward. [1]
Dutch priest and author Henri Nouwen (1932–1996) views discernment as a gift that comes from our intimacy with God:
I can see no other way for discernment than a life in the Spirit, a life of unceasing prayer and contemplation, a life of deep communion with the Spirit of God. Such a life will slowly develop in us an inner sensitivity, enabling us to distinguish between the law of the flesh [ego] and the law of the Spirit [soul]. We certainly will make constant errors and seldom have the purity of heart required to make the right decisions all the time. But when we continually try to live in the Spirit, we at least will be willing to confess our weakness and limitations in all humility, trusting in the one who is greater than our hearts.
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OCT 23, 2024. Psalm 147: God Cares About the Immense and the Mundane Click Here for Audio In 1985, Ronald Reagan went to Geneva, Switzerland, for his first meeting with Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet leader, to discuss nuclear disarmament. While in Geneva, the Reagan’s borrowed the chateau of a Muslim friend. The homeowner’s son, Hussain, left a note for the President asking him to please feed his goldfish, which Mr. Reagan was happy to do.On the first morning of the summit with Gorbachev, tragedy struck. A goldfish was dead at the bottom of the tank. The First Lady later said the President was so upset that he called his entire staff into the boy’s bedroom to figure out a solution. In the end, the summit with the Soviet leader was a huge success marking the beginning of the end of the Cold War. And before leaving Geneva, President Reagan personally wrote the following note to the homeowner’s son: Dear Friend, On Tuesday I found one of your fish dead in the bottom of the tank. I don’t know what could have happened but I added two new ones, same kind, I hope this was alright. Thanks for letting us live in your lovely home. Ronald Reagan The President of the United States It’s a charming story, but what I find most remarkable is the contrast between the two challenges the President was facing. On the one hand, he was responsible for managing the fate of humanity by de-escalating the threat of a nuclear holocaust. On the other hand, he was concerned about one boy’s dead goldfish.A similar but far larger contrast is seen in Psalm 147. YHWH is described as having limitless cosmic power. He commands the earth and the heavens, supplies rain and manages the seasons, and governs the stars above and the nations below. Verse 5 captures this vision of God when it declares, “Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limits.”But this expansive vision of YHWH’s awesome power is contrasted by his intimate concern for those who suffer. “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds” (verse 3). And while “he determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name” (verse 4), his thoughts are not so lofty that he cannot give his attention to those who are overlooked here on earth. “YHWH sustains the humble” (verse 6). The message of Psalm 147 is echoed by Jesus in the gospels. When speaking to his followers about persecution, Jesus offers comfort by reminding them of God’s intimate care. He counts every hair on our heads, and he knows every sparrow—and goldfish—that falls (See Matthew 10:26-31). For the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, who is robed with immense power, there is nothing that’s too mundane to be beyond his care. DAILY SCRIPTURE PSALM 147:1-20 MATTHEW 10:26-31 WEEKLY PRAYER From Charles Kingsley (1819 – 1975) Lift up our hearts, O Christ, above the false show of things, above laziness and fear, above selfishness and covetousness, above whim and fashion, up to the everlasting Truth that you are; that we may live joyfully and freely, in the faith that you are our King and our Savior, our Example and our Judge, and that, so long as we are loyal to you, all will ultimately be well. Amen. |
