Meditation Finding God in Meditation and Contemplation By Mary Louise Head A thoughtful gaze upon a little child often leaves us wondering: - Who will this child become?
- What gifts and talents will bud forth?
- How will this child relate to God and others?
- How will this child serve God?
 I remember my parents teaching my brothers and me in our earliest years to talk to God about the things that mattered: to bless those we loved, to help anyone in need, and to assist us in school, with our friends and with problems that arose. We were encouraged not only to pray in morning and at night, but to call upon God often during the day.
As I got older, I became curious about how other people prayed so began to read books by women and men who were known for their lives of prayer and close relationships with God. How did they develop a profound prayer life and deepen their relationships with their Creator? In studying the writing and lives of these holy people, I discovered the thirst for greater union with God cannot happen without a sincere and constant prayer life through which you rid yourself of selfishness to make room for God in your life. Thomas Merton advised that if you want a life of prayer, you must pray, and give prayer time. It is in prayer that we come to reflect on our choices. "Come now, let us argue it out, says the Lord" (Isaiah 1:18). God’s invitation to plumb the depth of our hearts, to accept and embrace our limitations willingly, requires us to let go of hypocrisy, selfishness and vanity, and to stand humbly before a loving God who assures us that: "All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted (Matthew 23:12). Stages of prayer Spiritual writers note three stages of prayer that overlap. First, there is vocal prayer -- a prayer of the lips, with stress on words recited or sung. The text may already be written, and is often beautiful and inspiring. There is also spontaneous vocal prayer. The second stage is meditative prayer. This prayer is centered in your mind, which pictures and ponders, reflects and thinks of the Creator God’s wonderful actions. Your mind seeks understanding and insight. In meditation, your lips are quiet and your mind is active. Finally, there is contemplative prayer. This is prayer of your heart that reaches out to God’s presence. The lips and mind come to rest as you simply gaze at God as your heart reaches out and your will seeks to be one with your Creator. In God’s presence The most important element in prayer is placing ourselves in God’s presence. The first definition of prayer I learned was, "Prayer is the lifting up of the heart and mind to God." Return to Me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts (Zechariah 1:3). How can we do this? Start by making time and space for God. In her book, Daily Prayers for Busy People, W.J. O’Malley says: "We should ask ourselves: Is maintaining a relationship with God as important as a coffee break? As important as reading the newspaper? We need not give up coffee or the paper, but if God is a genuine priority in our life, a couple of things do not really have to be done `today or else.’" We really can give God first priority. Here are guidelines to help us in meditative and contemplative prayer: - Seek solitude;
- Be faithful to solitude times;
- Welcome both self-knowledge and God-knowledge;
- Learn to waste time with God. (All lovers waste time with each other);
- Dare to be alone. Be willing to go apart from the crowd and the action, to be called away from the world’s business.
To create your own prayer experience, try this: - Tomorrow, rise a half hour earlier than usual. Pour out your time on God as if you had all the time in the world.
- Sit in a quiet place. Read or call to mind one brief invitation to prayer from Scripture or one of your favorite sources for prayer. Close your eyes. Breathe deeply. Entrust yourself to God. Let go.
- When words and images float by, resist the urge to grab onto them. Stay in the wordless place. Let the Spirit pray in you. Give up everything for God.
From Response (July/August 2000). Copyright © 2000 by Response.
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