Contemplating: Waking Up
Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting
Pastor Bob Henry
July 12, 2020
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (MSG)
16-18 So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.
This week, I have found myself leaning heavily on the mystical side of my Quaker faith. I have desired more time in meditation and silence, and I have noticed a dire need for contemplating my condition and the condition of my world.
I believe a lot of this has to do with the ongoing isolation and my own internal struggles and fear of the pandemic, the weight and tension of the conversations I have been engaged in about race, religion, and politics, and as a faith leader, husband, father, friend, and neighbor, how I am trying hard to lead with integrity while making a difference in my circles of influence.
If you happened to have read my “As Way Opens” article this week in our Friend to Friend newsletter, you would have read my admission to wrestling with not making the needed room for healing from the unexpected during these difficult times.
And I am not the only one who is struggling and has become more contemplative during this time. I would say many of you watching have a lot you are contemplating and trying to figure out.
Let me just say, this is not a bad thing.
Sure we can become so preoccupied with all that is going on or all that we think we need to be doing and literally miss what God is trying to show us, but more often when we take the time to contemplate we begin to learn something new about ourselves and even God.
Ronald Rolheiser in his book, “The Shattered Lantern” actually defines contemplation this way. He says,
“Contemplation is about waking up. To be contemplative is to experience an event fully, in all its aspects.”
I find this definition rather interesting in light of our current condition. This is why taking time to process, dialogue, and contemplate is so important, right now. It allows us to wake up and experience life more fully – to see new perspectives and question our old assumptions.
In many ways, the pandemic, the racial unrest, even our political season, is forcing us into a more contemplative posture – to wake up to realities that impact our lives, the lives of our neighbors, and especially our own faith and religious communities.
It is in entering this contemplative posture that we are being opened up wide to our lives, our histories, our beliefs, and our values. And for many, this is really uncomfortable and difficult. I admit when I go into those times of contemplation, like this week, it is not easy – a lot is being processed and many questions arise.
As Adele Ahlberg Calhoun puts it in her “Spiritual Disciplines Handbook,”
“Contemplation invites us to enter into the moment with a heart alive to whatever might happen. It is not just thinking about or analyzing an event or person. Contemplation asks us to see with faith, hope, and love. It asks us to seek God and the “meanings” threaded through our days and years, so that our experience of being embedded in the…life of God deepens and grows.”
There we are dealing with the “unexpected” again, or as Calhoun states it, “whatever might happen.” Isn’t this our current condition? For months now, we have been living with not knowing what might happen – and it looks as if that is how the coming months will proceed as well.
Even if we are not, by nature, contemplatives, I sense we may be needing in this season of our lives to embrace this posture. Actually, we may be over due, as Calhoun puts it, in opening ourselves to the unseen world, to entering into the “being” instead of just “doing” of life and becoming alert to the transcendencies in ordinary things.
Since the 1980’s the great prophet, Ferris Bueller, has been trying to warn us, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
In some ways the pandemic has exposed our lust for experiencing more and the fast-paced desire to do and produce. Before the pandemic, slowing down seemed not an option, performance and achievements were our goal, and time for contemplation seemed like a bother or an unwanted or useless interruption that could simply be missed.
On Sunday afternoon, Sue and I participated in a listening group in Carmel outside of St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church. On a normal Sunday, I would have probably still been at the meetinghouse, but the Pandemic afforded us this opportunity. Socially distanced and wearing masks, we sat in a circle with a diverse group of individuals – most of whom were contemplating the unexpected racist words of a faith leader from their community. In slowing down and allowing space for contemplation we were each entering that moment with a heart alive to whatever was going to happen. For about an hour we saw faith, hope, and love expressed in beautiful ways. No matter what racist words or actions had taken place, we were waking to the possibilities and coming alive for the benefit of black lives and the full Kingdom of God.
Maybe the pandemic is slowing us just enough to have some good and lasting effects on our world. Maybe it will afford us the opportunity to wake up and begin to experience life more fully as God intended it to be.
Now, as a student of spiritual formation, I feel it is important not only to preach and teach, but also give opportunities for us to begin developing that contemplative posture. To do that, I want to teach you a simple spiritual exercise that I have utilized for many years now. It is called, “Palms Down, Palms Up.”
To help you follow along, I will read the directions, but they will also appear on the screen for you to follow along.
First, sit comfortably with both feet on the floor and your hands on your lap. [Pause]
Next, breathe deeply and relax. Intentionally place yourself in the presence of your ideal image of God. [Pause]
Now, turn your palms down and begin to drop your cares, worries, agendas and experiences into God’s hands.
Let go of all that is heavy or burdensome in life, currently. Remember to relax and breathe deeply. [Pause]
When you have given your cares to God. Turn your palms up on your knees. [Pause]
Open your hands to receive God’s presence, word and love. Just listen. [Pause]
When you feel prompted to end, take a moment to share your experience with God. You may also find it helpful to journal or artistically express your experience. [Pause]
Later, today, I encourage you to return to this experience and look for what is awaking in you. You may want to ask yourself. “What in my life do I need to experience more fully?”
In conclusion, I want to leave you with one last thought – another definition of contemplation – this one from Richard Rohr. He says,
“Contemplation is an alternative consciousness that refuses to identify with or feed what are only passing shows.”
In the coming weeks and months, take time to contemplate, take time to wake up, take time to enter into a place where you can come alive (as I talked about last week) and you will not be distracted or swayed by the passing shows you will experience.
Now, as we enter a time of waiting worship, take a moment to contemplate the following queries:
1. How do I respond to the word, contemplation?
2. Am I “waking up” to new understandings during this difficult time?
3. How does my spiritual journey and relationship with God affect my contemplation?