Daily Contemplation

      Humanity is unique among all of creation in that we have a capacity for spiritual experience. Humans are created in three facets: the body, the soul, and the spirit. And it is the human soul that bridges the realm of the spirit and the realm of matter. I go into this in greater detail in an essay I’m working on for later publication.
      But for today I want to discuss how this effects our daily life and worship. We can go through the rites of weekly worship, read our sacred books, and recite prayers every day and still lack the connection we crave with our creator. That is because we are not listening to Him. We must go into our souls, quietly, and open the ears of our heart, the part of the soul where the feelings, reason and volition reside, to listen to the voice of God. This is where the practice of contemplation becomes useful. Every spiritual tradition an Earth since the days of Enoch has included some form of meditative or contemplative practice. I follow the practice of hesychasm, an ancient Christian form of contemplation from the Fifth Century. But there are forms available in every spiritual path on Earth. It doesn’t matter if you are (alphabetically) agnostic, atheist, buhddist, Christian, Druid, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, pagan, shaman, or any other spiritual path I may have overlooked. (My appologies if I missed your path.)
      Taking time out to enter your own soul and listen to God will improve your life. The modern practice of Centering Prayer, begun in Trappist monestaries in the United States, is the most open to multy-discipline practitioners. If you do not know any other form of contemplation, look up Centering Prayer in your local area. Groups are literally everywhere. You can get started on your first visit. Other forms include Mindfulness, Yoga, Penticostal Deep Glosilalia, etc.
      I am not talking about simply meditating to enter some form of trance. I’m talking about quieting the mind to hear the still, small voice within that comes from God. Stress, hurt, grief, and all other forms of human distraction are gently eased when we take twenty minutes out of our day to sit quietly with God. I know from experience that even atheists benefit from the experience. Try it for yourself.
      Some suggested reading: The Road Less Travelled, by M. Scott Peck; Further Along the Road Less Travelled, by M. Scott Peck; Experiencing God, by Morton T. Kelsey; The Other Side of Silence, by Morton T. Kelsey; The Seven Story Mountain, by Thomas Keating; The Cloud of Unknowing, by and English Mystic, etc. and any others you can encounter.
      My only warning is to carefully vett your choice of reading because there are spiritual entities out there who would like nothing better than to lead you into your own soul to trap you there and take power over you.