Helpful Verses:
“Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10
Interesting Quotes:
"Contemplation is about waking up. To be contemplative is to experience an event fully, in all its aspects." Ronald Rolheiser
"We are hasty people bent on experiencing as much of life as we can. The faster we move, the more we can see, do and produce… but it is contemplation, not just having experiences, that truly opens us wide to life. Contemplation invites us to enter into the moment with a heart alive to whatever might happen." Adele Calhoun
"Contrary to much contemporary thinking, contemplation has nothing to do with making our minds blank... its chief aim is to encounter Christ so that our love for him is rekindled. In the quietness, aware of his presence, we open our hearts to receive his love. We discover that long before we came to our place of prayer he was seeking us... he fills us afresh with his Spirit. We receive a new perspective on life – his perspective. We draw so close to his heart that we sense his concern for the world, and from our contemplation flows intercession as we catch his compassion for a hurting world." Joyce Huggett
Example Patterns:
Find a quiet place for 10 minutes everyday. Sit in silence, open yourself to the presence of God, hand over to him all the stresses in your life and then ask the Lord what he would like to show you about himself and your life.
Take a contemplative walk. Decide to take a short walk where your focus becomes the appreciation of the world around you and the noticing of God’s goodness and creative power.
Contemplate people. Spend some time – you can even do this on the tube! – noticing all the people around you and allow God to show you his love for them, and for you.
Podcast:
We caught up with Jane Williams, who lectures at St Mellitus theological college, to lear more about the practice of contemplation and its role in a busy city like London.