Contemplative Quotes

1. "I have come to find the term presence a more central and more useful category for grasping the unifying note in the varieties of Christian mysticism. Thus we can say that the mystical [/contemplative] element in Christianity is that part of its beliefs and practices that concern the preparation for, the consciousness of, and the reaction to what can be described as immediate and direct [transforming] presence of God." --from Bernard McGinn, The Presence of God….The Foundations of Mysticism, Vol. 1, p.xvii. 2. The Cloud of Unknowing, Chapter III Lift up your heart to God with a humble impulse of love; and have himself as your aim, not any of his goods. Take care that you avoid thinking of anything but himself, so that there is nothing for your reason or your will to work on, except himself. Do all that in you lies to forget all the creatures that God ever made, and their works, so that neither your thought nor your desire be directed or extended to any of them, neither in general nor in particular. Let them alone and pay no attention to them. This is the work of the soul that pleases God most. All saints and angels take joy in this exercise, and are anxious to help it on with all their might. All the devils are furious when you undertake it, and make it their business, insofar as they can, to destroy it. We cannot know how wonderfully all people dwelling on earth are helped by this exercise. … The darkness and cloud are always between you and your God, no matter what you do, and it prevents you from seeing him clearly by the light of understanding in your reason and from experiencing him in sweetness of love in your affection. So set yourself to rest in this darkness, as long as you can, always crying out after him whom you love. (The Classics of Western Spirituality Edition and Translation, p.120-121) **** 3. “Music that is silent, And solitude that sings.” La musica callada, La soledad Sonora.” -- St. John of the Cross, The Spiritual Canticle, 14 &15 Stanza, Expositions, 25 – 27 (Peers translation) 4. “Silence as transcendent To be related to the Ineffable implies silence. There is no genuine relation to the source of all speech that is not characterized somehow fundamentally, by silence. If being for persons is or entails being in relation, then the existence of human persons is in this sense being as silent, since the relation to God is the person’s most fundamental relation. To stray from the mode of being is to stray from oneself. To leave silence is to attempt to find oneself inter aliena [among alien things]. This is not, of course, to say that one must be always and physically silent. Silence is not the mere lack of speech. It is more than a mere stilling of the chatter and purely human words that often tend to take the person away from himself and from other persons.... It is not merely a negation of the negation of the “we” or a house empty and swept; it is rather a house full of light. It is a modality of our being present to God in which he can be intensely present to us as he is, for he is not best found, as the Carmelites teach, in the costume of our own production. … The triumph of the Word is in the failure of words as such to render him plain. … [I]n silent prayer the one praying more readily transcends the finite, and so, himself. This is the condition for his finding himself. The difference is at once evident between this and the type of prayer where at bottom the petitioner is really in a sensationalized dialogue with himself…. God is not of one’s own production, even mentally, and so is outside of one’s control.” --William L. Brownsberger. Silence. Communio (P O Box 4557, Washington, DC. 20017), Winter 2009, XXXVI, 4, pp. 599 – 601. “Silence as transcendent To be related to the Ineffable implies silence. There is no genuine relation to the source of all speech that is not characterized somehow fundamentally, by silence. If being for persons is or entails being in relation, then the existence of human persons is in this sense being as silent, since the relation to God is the person’s most fundamental relation. To stray from the mode of being is to stray from oneself. To leave silence is to attempt to find oneself inter aliena [among alien things]. This is not, of course, to say that one must be always and physically silent. Silence is not the mere lack of speech. It is more than a mere stilling of the chatter and purely human words that often tend to take the person away from himself and from other persons.... It is not merely a negation of the negation of the “we” or a house empty and swept; it is rather a house full of light. It is a modality of our being present to God in which he can be intensely present to us as he is, for he is not best found, as the Carmelites teach, in the costume of our own production. … The triumph of the Word is in the failure of words as such to render him plain. … [I]n silent prayer the one praying more readily transcends the finite, and so, himself. This is the condition for his finding himself. The difference is at once evident between this and the type of prayer where at bottom the petitioner is really in a sensationalized dialogue with himself…. God is not of one’s own production, even mentally, and so is outside of one’s control.” --William L. Brownsberger. Silence. Communio (P O Box 4557, Washington, DC. 20017), Winter 2009, XXXVI, 4, pp. 599 – 601.
For questions, comments or other communication, please contact: William Fredrickson Fredrickson46@msn.com

1.

"I have come to find the term presence a more central and more useful category for grasping the unifying note in the varieties of Christian mysticism.
Thus we can say that the mystical [/contemplative] element in Christianity is that part of its beliefs and practices that concern the preparation for, the consciousness of, and the reaction to what can be described as immediate and direct [transforming] presence of God."

--from Bernard McGinn, The Presence of God….The Foundations of Mysticism, Vol. 1, p.xvii.

2.

The Cloud of Unknowing, Chapter III
Lift up your heart to God with a humble impulse of love; and have himself as your aim, not any of his goods. Take care that you avoid thinking of anything but himself, so that there is nothing for your reason or your will to work on, except himself. Do all that in you lies to forget all the creatures that God ever made, and their works, so that neither your thought nor your desire be directed or extended to any of them, neither in general nor in particular. Let them alone and pay no attention to them. This is the work of the soul that pleases God most. All saints and angels take joy in this exercise, and are anxious to help it on with all their might. All the devils are furious when you undertake it, and make it their business, insofar as they can, to destroy it.
We cannot know how wonderfully all people dwelling on earth are helped by this exercise. …
The darkness and cloud are always between you and your God, no matter what you do, and it prevents you from seeing him clearly by the light of understanding in your reason and from experiencing him in sweetness of love in your affection. So set yourself to rest in this darkness, as long as you can, always crying out after him whom you love.
(The Classics of Western Spirituality Edition and Translation, p.120-121)

****
3.
“Music that is silent,
And solitude that sings.”
La musica callada,
La soledad Sonora.”

-- St. John of the Cross, The Spiritual Canticle, 14 &15 Stanza, Expositions, 25 – 27 (Peers translation)

4.
“Silence as transcendent
To be related to the Ineffable implies silence. There is no genuine relation to the source of all speech that is not characterized somehow fundamentally, by silence. If being for persons is or entails being in relation, then the existence of human persons is in this sense being as silent, since the relation to God is the person’s most fundamental relation. To stray from the mode of being is to stray from oneself. To leave silence is to attempt to find oneself inter aliena [among alien things]. This is not, of course, to say that one must be always and physically silent.
          Silence is not the mere lack of speech. It is more than a mere stilling of the chatter and purely human words that often tend to take the person away from himself and from other persons....   It is not merely a negation of the negation of the “we” or a house empty and swept; it is rather a house full of light. It is a modality of our being present to God in which he can be intensely present to us as he is, for he is not best found, as the Carmelites teach, in the costume of our own production.
          … The triumph of the Word is in the failure of words as such to render him plain.
          … [I]n silent prayer the one praying more readily transcends the finite, and so, himself. This is the condition for his finding himself. The difference is at once evident between this and the type of prayer where at bottom the petitioner is really in a sensationalized dialogue with himself…. God is not of one’s own production, even mentally, and so is outside of one’s control.”
--William L. Brownsberger. Silence. Communio (P O Box 4557, Washington, DC. 20017), Winter 2009, XXXVI, 4, pp. 599 – 601.
“Silence as transcendent
To be related to the Ineffable implies silence. There is no genuine relation to the source of all speech that is not characterized somehow fundamentally, by silence. If being for persons is or entails being in relation, then the existence of human persons is in this sense being as silent, since the relation to God is the person’s most fundamental relation. To stray from the mode of being is to stray from oneself. To leave silence is to attempt to find oneself inter aliena [among alien things]. This is not, of course, to say that one must be always and physically silent.
          Silence is not the mere lack of speech. It is more than a mere stilling of the chatter and purely human words that often tend to take the person away from himself and from other persons....   It is not merely a negation of the negation of the “we” or a house empty and swept; it is rather a house full of light. It is a modality of our being present to God in which he can be intensely present to us as he is, for he is not best found, as the Carmelites teach, in the costume of our own production.
          … The triumph of the Word is in the failure of words as such to render him plain.
          … [I]n silent prayer the one praying more readily transcends the finite, and so, himself. This is the condition for his finding himself. The difference is at once evident between this and the type of prayer where at bottom the petitioner is really in a sensationalized dialogue with himself…. God is not of one’s own production, even mentally, and so is outside of one’s control.”
--William L. Brownsberger. Silence. Communio (P O Box 4557, Washington, DC. 20017), Winter 2009, XXXVI, 4, pp. 599 – 601.