Wednesday 19 December 2012

Contemplative Spirituality


Every now and then I am reminded that there are many things I know little about and some of my flaws slip out like not being exploratory in my thinking. After all I am still quite happy to believe the bible literally ( would not put much thinking into how the assumption of Mary works, or the ressuraction of Christ), and would never dream to question it. I treat books by Dan Brown such as DaVinci Code and Angels and Demons as good reading because the concepts are well put together. I would never dream to even think about how the Bible was put together, because then my argumentative side would come out and I would state categorically you have no proof, so I do not have to believe you.
So to cut a long story short I am now googling Contemplative Spirtuality and so far I have come across some links which provide real insight into how people think. I am still to decide if I want to read the contents of the links or if as usual I am happy with my thinking. However I will paste them here in case I decide to look into them further to save myself the trouble or to avoid having a reason not to read them:
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/contemplativespirituality.htm: This site  covers recent data such as The Gethsemani Encounter 1996 and the Gethsemani Encounter II 2002, and  a book written by the Dalai Lama titled "Spiritual Advice for Buddhists and Christians";
http://www.faithalone.org/journal/1997ii/Caddock.html ~ What is Conteplative Spirituality and why is it dangerous; by John Caddox,Winchester Or. In this page, Mr Caddox mentions Thomas Merton who was my main source on Contemplative Spirituality, not that  I read anything of his, he just looked appealing.
Then there is http://www.shalem.org/index.php/about-us.. Shalem is an associate member of the Washington Theological Consortium. Their page on Contemplative Quotations is quite good actually since it covers a number of saints  who existed at different times and some of their more inspiring quotes. http://www.shalem.org/index.php/resources/quotations. There are quotes from
~Julian of Norwich: Right understanding, with true longing, absolute trust and sweet grace -giving mindfulness. So now I am starting to be biased as I tried meditating using a 30 day guide on Julian of Norwich, All will be well or something of the sort.
~ Catherine of Siena: The secret of Christian cntemplation is that it faces us with Jesus Christ toward our suffering world in loving service and just action. I have heard priests quote Catherine of Siena for a long time
~ Ignatius of Loyola: Finding God in all things. Yep, our priests have been quoting him as well
~ Theresa of Avila: Awareness, absorbed and amazed. "Famous  I think.
~ Francis de Sales: The mind's loving unmixed permanent attention to the things of God.  Heard about him too, never paid much attention to it, sounded like too much suffering.
~  Thomas Merton: Seeing through the exterior things and seeing God in them.
So after all is said and done, maybe I can lovingly accept Contemplative Spirituality if I try to see through exterior things and see God in them. :)  As the song says: " Back in love again," can't remember the names of the singers however I will definitely add a You tube link as soon as possible.
Copyright Jennifer Bailey

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