1. Nouwen describes solitude as creating space between us and our distractions, whether they be external distractions (i.e. TV, radio, jukeboxes) or internal distractions such as our thoughts and daydreams. Solitude is a spiritual discipline that lets us become attuned to the voice of God, so we can hear him when we otherwise wouldn't.
2. Nouwen believes that spiritual life without discipline is impossible because God works actively in our lives in many ways, and when we enter into solitude, we give God a place and Time, which he deserves, so to lead a spiritual life, we must make solitude so as to respect all that God does for us. Nouwen's suggestion for us to cultivate solitude is that we discipline our time of solitude by planning out our time carefully, so that our solitude is not interrupted by other distractions.
3. Nouwen describes the absurd life as coming from the Latin word "surdus" which means "deaf." so absurd is a life of not listening to God. The obedient life comes from the Latin word "audire" which means "listening", so the obedient life is one in which we listen to God's voice.
Sunday, February 28, 2016
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Thomas Merton on Contemplation
1. I think that Merton believes meditation is something that comes with hardship in prayer and waiting for the time of grace. He describes it also as many times , "a kind of descent into our own nothingness, a recognition of helplessness, frustration, infidelity, confusion, ignorance..." I think that Merton is describing meditation as seeing God and letting him permeate in our attitude.
2. Merton describes obstacles that come up in our spiritual life. These obstacles are resisting God, lack of confidence, and letting our imaginations run wild. He talks bout the help of the spiritual director who can guide us in prayer and sense any wrong- headed efforts. He proposes acceptance and humility as a solution to the problem of a wandering mind.
3. Merton's words on a wandering mind are very helpful to me. I find myself often with a wandering mind, and cannot keep focus when praying. It takes a long time for me to settle down, and actually be able to direct my attention on prayer. My question for Merton would be are we really ever only going to be beginners at the spiritual life. Obviously there are some people that are leading a more mature spiritual life, but are we all still just beginners?
2. Merton describes obstacles that come up in our spiritual life. These obstacles are resisting God, lack of confidence, and letting our imaginations run wild. He talks bout the help of the spiritual director who can guide us in prayer and sense any wrong- headed efforts. He proposes acceptance and humility as a solution to the problem of a wandering mind.
3. Merton's words on a wandering mind are very helpful to me. I find myself often with a wandering mind, and cannot keep focus when praying. It takes a long time for me to settle down, and actually be able to direct my attention on prayer. My question for Merton would be are we really ever only going to be beginners at the spiritual life. Obviously there are some people that are leading a more mature spiritual life, but are we all still just beginners?
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