Emily Rose Meditations

What we can expect, how it might happen or feel, when God gets our attention in contemplation.

Ways to sharpen our skills, steps to take in our pursuit of contemplation -- and keeping it on track.

Contemplation is one of those practices where less is more. The more active effort we try to squeeze out of ourselves, the further we are from the target. When we become putty, when we allow ourselves to relax in the Father's grasp, then we are moved and remade.

There is no magic wand or band-aid; nothing can substitute the good, consistent hard work of showing up to your meditation spot every day and seeking God anew. It is simple, but can be plodding. And after a long effort, such great rewards can result.

So much of spiritual discipline and prayer is trying something out to see what works for your mind. Just as God has a personal relationship with each person, each of us respond to temptation differently and find different struggles. Therefore, different methods of combat are appropriate as well!

When past memories or sins threaten to derail us in contemplation, let us firmly crush them! Let us not be distracted from the work we've been given to do -- focusing on God alone.

May we hold our countenance and our judgments close, perhaps so close that they suffocate and disappear! The Holy Spirit is our loving judge in all things.

Our judgements and our perception, no matter how clear we believe it to be, does not align with God's own vision and truth. May we be urged to humility by this fact, and keep our own consciences clear.

Just like any close relationship, we continue along better when we start out in honesty -- we're reminded today to first confess any lingering sins and darkness within us and then once everything's on the table, proceed in our contemplative efforts.

All may, some should, none must! Anybody can gain from contemplation, but it may not be the most fulfilling or gainful for every type of person, and that's okay!

We can listen and read and prepare as much as we want, but just like so many things in life, the real expertise comes from doing. So just try it! Sit down, re-listen to episode 9 (season 2), and try it out. See how it goes!

Julian of Norwich (season 1, episode 16) encounters similar advice from her prayers and contemplation -- how our particular affinities (and aversions!) can trip us up in our efforts to grow.

"The essence of contemplation is a simple and direct reaching out to God." Whatever it is that we're mired in while we reach out to God is transformed into useful fuel for his communication with us.

May we not worry or become agitated when others who do not understand our work take up condemning or criticizing or grumbling about us. God will answer them -- let God deal with their attitudes! -- while our work is to continue in the path set before us.

The author leads us to reflect upon the love which is reflected between Mary and Jesus, and beyond that relationship, the love and witness of any Bible story we may choose to read deeply.

In pursuing contemplation/meditation, there can be tension with the activity of the world, and those who are comfortable in it. May we seek to have grace for one another and to respect our brothers and sisters in their pursuits of God.

I wonder what it would look like to depend on Jesus to defend the spiritual practices that we may take up which elicit jeers or suspicion (or downright hostility!) from others.

What a spiritual discipline it is to acknowledge that none of us has the whole picture or a full understanding of all the ways in which God reaches out to each of his people.

Contemplation and meditation have aroused suspicion among religious folks for millennia! And truly, like every other single practice or style of life and prayer, there are dangers. Nothing is safe from perversion in this life.

Exploring the story of Mary and Martha, we consider the myriad ways we're called to serve God and to grow in relationship with him.

Using the story of Jesus' anointing by the woman who washed his feet with her hair, we reflect on how love can motivate us more and better than any other power.

Our motivations, even for holy habits, varies. But whatever our reasons, God can use any tiny movement toward him for our growth and transformation.

It seems that our medieval monk (or whoever the anonymous author may be!) saw some value in what we modern people might explore in therapy -- becoming aware of our own foibles and blindspots, so that we might better communicate with others (and especially, with God). Of course, our director in these pages suggests contemplation as the path -- why not both?!

One thing's for sure: contemplation needs humility. We have self-knowledge which is mortal, or usual, and a divine level of humility. May we always remember that one is pure gift from God.

Rather than focusing on avoiding sin, we can focus on something positive - directing that dart of love to the blindness that surrounds our vision of God.