Mentors, spiritual guides, and spiritual direction come in various guises. Miss Eagle is much indebted to a person she has never met: William Johnston SJ. One of Johnston's books that is a must read for the person interested in prayer is Being in Love: the practice of christian prayer. Below is Part I of two parts of an edited chapter from Being in love.
A way of silence and a way of words
A way of darkness and a way of light
A way of negation and a way of affirmation
A way of unknowing and a way of knowing
A way of mysticism and a way of theology
A way of no object and a way of object
A way of being and a way of doing
A way of existence and a way of essence
A way of timelessness and a way of time
An apophatic way and a kataphatic way.
~~~~~~~~~
Related Reading:
The Mysticism of the Cloud of Unknowing
Mystical Journey: An Autobiography
Mystical Theology: The Science of Love
The Still Point: Reflections on Zen and Christian Mysticism
The Cloud of Unknowing: and The Book of Privy Counseling (Image Book Original)
Arise, My Love: Mysticism for a New Era
Being in Love: A Practical Guide to Christian Prayer
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SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS
Modern people are very conscious of the social problems of our day. .
…There are always some good people who shake sad and cynical heads with the comment: “And while the world is in such a mess you sit in wordless silence. Yes, you enter your little cloud of forgetting! You extol being above doing. You glorify imageless prayer and abandon discursive thinking. And you enter your dark night. How can you do such a thing? How can you be indifferent to the plight of millions of your brothers and sisters on this earth – millions of your brothers and sisters who are also God’s children?”
…I have said that silent and imageless meditation leads to a profound conversion like that of the Good Samaritan who picked up the poor traveller lying bleeding by the roadside. It opens our hearts to compassion for every single human being who suffers in the whole world. Through authentic compassion you suffer with (and the word “compassion” means just that); and you are never far from the one who is in agony and pain.
…Again I have said that prayer will liberate you from the discouragement, the sadness, the depression that so often settle on people who undertake great tasks for the world and for God. It will liberate you from the consuming anger that leads to violence and destruction. Prayer will give you joy in difficult enterprises and peace in the midst of failure.
…Criticism of silent prayer is not always without foundation. …wordless, mystical contemplation, however deep, will not put you in touch with the actualities and concrete problems of our day. It needs to be complemented by study, by observation of the world, by attentiveness to the signs of the times, by reading, by what I have called essential prayer. In short, existential prayer does not stand alone. And if we think it does, we shall be in trouble.
This points to something of the greatest importance for those who enter the mystical path. …put schematically..There is –
…There are always some good people who shake sad and cynical heads with the comment: “And while the world is in such a mess you sit in wordless silence. Yes, you enter your little cloud of forgetting! You extol being above doing. You glorify imageless prayer and abandon discursive thinking. And you enter your dark night. How can you do such a thing? How can you be indifferent to the plight of millions of your brothers and sisters on this earth – millions of your brothers and sisters who are also God’s children?”
…I have said that silent and imageless meditation leads to a profound conversion like that of the Good Samaritan who picked up the poor traveller lying bleeding by the roadside. It opens our hearts to compassion for every single human being who suffers in the whole world. Through authentic compassion you suffer with (and the word “compassion” means just that); and you are never far from the one who is in agony and pain.
…Again I have said that prayer will liberate you from the discouragement, the sadness, the depression that so often settle on people who undertake great tasks for the world and for God. It will liberate you from the consuming anger that leads to violence and destruction. Prayer will give you joy in difficult enterprises and peace in the midst of failure.
…Criticism of silent prayer is not always without foundation. …wordless, mystical contemplation, however deep, will not put you in touch with the actualities and concrete problems of our day. It needs to be complemented by study, by observation of the world, by attentiveness to the signs of the times, by reading, by what I have called essential prayer. In short, existential prayer does not stand alone. And if we think it does, we shall be in trouble.
This points to something of the greatest importance for those who enter the mystical path. …put schematically..There is –
A way of silence and a way of words
A way of darkness and a way of light
A way of negation and a way of affirmation
A way of unknowing and a way of knowing
A way of mysticism and a way of theology
A way of no object and a way of object
A way of being and a way of doing
A way of existence and a way of essence
A way of timelessness and a way of time
An apophatic way and a kataphatic way.
~~~~~~~~~
Related Reading:
The Mysticism of the Cloud of Unknowing
Mystical Journey: An Autobiography
Mystical Theology: The Science of Love
The Still Point: Reflections on Zen and Christian Mysticism
The Cloud of Unknowing: and The Book of Privy Counseling (Image Book Original)
Arise, My Love: Mysticism for a New Era
Being in Love: A Practical Guide to Christian Prayer
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