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| Seeking a Path to God |
Contemplation nourishes the soul. It stimulates your
relationship with the divine.…All religious traditions have a history of
seeking silence as a path to God, the Light, and the Way.
Silence is an invitation to the divine to come forward,
to reveal itself to you—as a presence more than an active guidance. You wait to
experience the presence of God without an agenda, without a prayer list filled
with requests that cover myriad fears and insecurities. This is a new
experience for many people who seem to lack the patience to wait for God.…
Contemplation is the discipline of piercing through the
ego’s self-centeredness and impatience. It may include the boredom of waiting
for God to show up. Contemplation is like falling into your soul and away from
the world. Caroline Myss Entering the Castle Page 68/69
The mind talks
so much that it is hard to keep a silent space. When I get into a mode of
contemplation and actually manage to be run through with silence then I often
find myself sinking into a sleep-filled place. I doze off. The silence is so peaceful it is conducive to
rest and sleep.
In the parable
of the Ten Bridesmaids, Matthew 25: 1-13, we read, “When the bridegroom was
delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.” Matt 25: 5 (New Living
Translation). Christ, in the telling of this parable doesn’t have any
condemnation of the fact that they fell asleep for, as soon as the shout went
up that the bridegroom was coming, they were immediately awake and prepared
their lamps ready to greet him.
Five out of the
ten bridesmaids were described as wise and were ready for the bridegroom to
come, they had extra oil for their lamps, and as soon as the bridegroom
appeared, they trimmed their lamps and their inner selves shone with prepared
light. They had waited through the dark times, the boring times, and the
uncertain times; they did not give up in the dry times.
They were ready
to accompany the bridegroom—the Sacred One—to the place where he would go and
they rejoiced and celebrated with him. We must be like the five wise
bridesmaids, ready to meet our God and accompany him whither he would have us
go.
© Judith
Lawrence
