I am reading through Richard Rohr’s Everything Belongs – a book on contemplative prayer. In chapter three Rohr explores at least two items connected to contemplative prayer: living in the present, and living beyond “me” or “I.”
Regarding living in the present, Rohr writes that “The contemplative secret is to learn to live in the now…Because our moments are not tasted or full or real or in the Presence, we are never full. We create artificial fullness and try to hang on to that.” (61) Rohr believes it is our unwillingness to live in the present and thus to fully experience the joy of each moment that leaves us so unfulfilled and leads us to seek joy in artificial ways.
Practicing silence and contemplative prayer (a way of living in the present), however, will not always be positive. Rohr notes that in the early stages of practicing silence and contemplation, the first thing that happens is that “Our patterns of control, addiction, negativity, tension, anger, and fear assert themselves.” (75) These will be the first thoughts and emotions to “bubble up” to the surface as we silence ourselves before God. Pointing to Mark 1:13 Rohr remarks that when Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness (for Rohr, a symbol of contemplation), “the first things that show up are wild beasts.” (75) Contemplation can bring joy and fulfillment. But it will also force us to deal with the more negative aspects of ourseves.
Contemplation, finally, moves us beyond “I” or “me”. What Rohr means is that our gut reaction to circumstances and people in life is to evaluate them positively or negatively from a relatively selfish and self-centered perspective. When we truly learn to experience each moment in a contemplative way, we stop this self-centered evaluation of situations and of people. Instead, we begin asking “What does this have to say to me?” (91). “Those who are totally converted come to every experience and ask not whether or not they liked it, but what does it have to teach them. ‘What’s the message in this for me? What’s the gift in this for me? How is God in this event? where is God in this suffering?'” (91)
