Written by John S. Mogabgab (1946-2014), a theologian, editor, and friend of Henri Nouwen. This is an excerpt from an Editor’s Introduction to a 1992 edition of the publication “Weavings.”
Richard Baxter, the seventeenth-century English divine, once described the chief end of contemplation as “acquaintance and fellowship with God” (The Saint’s Everlasting Rest). The homely simplicity of Baxter’s definition points to the essential dimensions of contemplative life. It is, in the first place, a life of deepening acquaintance with God, a life of removing the layers of misunderstanding that obscure our relationship with the Holy One. As we strip away the fear, mistrust, anger, or pain that encases our heart, we come to see that our desire for God is in fact an echo of God’s far more encompassing and passionate desire for us. Contemplative awareness confirms that God is closer than we think, that there is no path to God that is not first God’s path to us. Contemplative life explores these paths; it is wholly dedicated to the one thing necessary; it is a life consumed with and by God, and therefore a life committed to ever more unguarded exposure to the love that is at once the source, transformation, and joy of human existence.
Prayer:
Written by Brother Alois, a contemporary priest.
Christ Jesus, to each one of us you say: “Do not be afraid. Come on further: follow me.” Listening to your voice in the Gospel gives us the courage to leave behind everything that hinders our walk with you, and to live for the people God entrusts to us. Amen.
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