True contemplation is the most subversive of activities because it undercuts the one thing that normally refuses to be undercut ¢â‚¬”our natural separateness and narcissism. We all move toward the ego, and we even solidify it as we get older if something doesn ¢â‚¬â„¢t expose it for the lie that it is: not because it is bad, but because it thinks it is the whole enchilada!

People don ¢â‚¬â„¢t really change too much by themselves; God changes you, if you can expose yourself to God and  ¢â‚¬Å“reality. ¢â‚¬  Christian meditation will probably never fill stadiums, because not too many people want their narcissism and separateness to be exposed for the illusion that it is.

Adapted from A Lever and A Place to Stand:

The Contemplative Stance, The Active Prayer, pp. 9-10

~~

Could meditation/contemplation be the very thing that has the power to both democratize, reform, and and mature Christianity? It alone does not demand major education, does not need a hierarchy of decision makers, does not need to argue about gender issues in leadership or liturgy, does not need preachers and bishops, and does not need membership requirements that include and exclude. Contemplation ¢â‚¬â„¢s non-verbal character makes all our arguments about  ¢â‚¬Å“the right words ¢â‚¬  and the perfectly correct understanding of those words largely useless. We clergy are almost put out of business.

Deep prayer on the inside heals the outside and the in-between simply by reconnecting everything at its core and at our Center. And let us be honest ¢â‚¬“Jesus talked a lot more about praying and healing than any of the issues that continue to preoccupy most of our churches.

Adapted from A Lever and A Place to Stand:

The Contemplative Stance, The Active Prayer, pp. 58-59

Richard Rohr