Let me try to tee this up... Contemplation means a stopping to think, to consider calmly, the who is around me and what is happening. It is a paying attention, giving attention to what is important. It is turning off the auto pilot and thinking from the soul.
From Father Richard Rohr-
A practice of contemplation is one of the surest ways to develop the virtue of compassion—for both ourselves and others.
Much of the early work of contemplation is discovering a way to observe ourselves from a compassionate and nonjudgmental distance until we can eventually live more and more of our lives from this calm inner awareness and acceptance. In a contemplative stance, we find ourselves smiling, sighing, and weeping at ourselves, much more than needing either to hate or to congratulate ourselves—because we are finally looking at ourselves with the eyes of God.
Actually, what is happening is we are letting God gaze at us, in the way only God can gaze—with infinite mercy, love, and compassion. God initiates a positive gaze, which now goes in both directions.
From Father Richard Rohr-
A practice of contemplation is one of the surest ways to develop the virtue of compassion—for both ourselves and others.
Much of the early work of contemplation is discovering a way to observe ourselves from a compassionate and nonjudgmental distance until we can eventually live more and more of our lives from this calm inner awareness and acceptance. In a contemplative stance, we find ourselves smiling, sighing, and weeping at ourselves, much more than needing either to hate or to congratulate ourselves—because we are finally looking at ourselves with the eyes of God.
Actually, what is happening is we are letting God gaze at us, in the way only God can gaze—with infinite mercy, love, and compassion. God initiates a positive gaze, which now goes in both directions.
As we receive God’s compassionate gaze in contemplation, all negative energy and motivation is slowly exposed and will eventually fall away as counter-productive and useless. There will be no mistrust, fear, or negativity in either direction! If we resort to any form of shaming ourselves, we will slip back into defense, denial, and overcompensation. We will not be able to “know as fully as we are known” (see 1 Corinthians 13:12).
[Jeff writing here] Is it possible to stop thinking about how bad you are? Is it possible for you to love yourself as God does? Is it possible to believe that God loves you? Yes! Yes! Yes! Just start the work of thinking differently about God and about yourself.
It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to be the good.
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I am leading a River Cruise to Belgium and the Netherlands March 19-27, 2022. If you are interested in reading about the trip or joining in, the link is below.
http://www.eo.travelwithus.com/files/uploads/RC22_031922T_TulipTime_002_FINAL-1.pdf
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