Becoming a Contemplative Activist
"The world is the cloister of the contemplative. Always the quest for justice draws one deeply into the heart of God. In this sacred interiority, contemplation becomes the language of prayer and the impetus for prophetic action."
Dr. Barbara Holmes, Joy, Unspeakable: Contemplative Practices of the Black Church
Take a few minutes to answer the question, “What has been heavy on my heart this week? Do I believe that God cares about my heart?”
As justice-minded Christians, we are concerned, angered, broken, and hurting about the dysfunctional nation we live in, as well as the sometimes painful experiences in the Church. More than anything we need to break from our work, our action, our study, our difficult conversations, and say, “God, this world is a MESS, but you are still on the throne.” Silence and solitude can be a healing path to connect with God’s heart.
“Be still and know that I am God” Psalm 46:10
What helps you to be still? (For me, it’s turning off my phone notifications, maybe lighting a candle, deep breathing, a calming song…what about you?)
“Being a wounded healer starts with a deepening self-awareness of our own personal struggles and receiving empathy — tender-hearted understanding and compassionate support — from God and other people that we need. Being filled with love we can overflow with love to others (1 John 4:19) so they know they are not alone. Feeling our own sadness, anger, anxiety, and inadequacy, we can deeply empathize with the emotions of other people so that they can articulate their experience and receive care. As wounded healers in the way of Christ we are like the Psalmist in the Bible. We don’t deny or disdain our emotional struggles. Instead we accept our inner distress and receive the empathy and guidance that we need and then we can share the grace we’ve received with others who are hurting.”
Reflections on the work of Henri Nouwen, the Wounded Healer
More than one half of the Psalms in the Bible are Psalms of Lament (some say that it’s almost 2/3!!) *Is that surprising to you? Why or why not? Have you ever used a Psalm to help you cry out to God?
…people who “enter into the pain of society, have to go to God to find rest for the soul” (attributed to St. Ignatius of Loyola)
“…when we are busier than God requires, as Thomas Merton has written, we do violence to ourselves.” Peter Scazzero, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality
*Do you sometimes feel busier than God requires? When could you make more space for contemplative time with God?
*Do we make time and space to hear from the Holy Spirit? The following is an inviting excerpt from the book Latina Evangelicas: A Theological Survey from the Margins by Loida Martell-Otero, Zaida Maldonado Perez, and Elizabeth Conde-Frazier. This excerpt is from the reflections on the Holy Spirit by Dr. Perez:
“I love the Holy Spirit. She is like the wild child of the Trinity, anywhere and everywhere moving, calling forth, and stirring things up. She is wonderfully illusive yet also fully present. She is untamable, full of possibilities and creative potential. She is the salsa beat in our daily foxtrot. She is and will be unconventional, even uncultured. She is the wonder that moves our questions from, what does this all mean? to, what shall we do? She can forever alter our lives and change our world. She is life-giving breath, wind, and fire. She is the ruach elohim, the flaming divine pneuma that is always "going native" because she wants to be encountered by all. She is calming Spirit amid the storm. She is wisdom. “
How does this description of the Spirit connect with you?
What do you do with Anger and Pain when you sit down to spend time with God? What was your family’s way of dealing with anger and pain? Your church’s?
Instead of denying our anger about injustices and suffering, we need safe places to explore them, and lament them with God. For me, when I read about Jesus’ anger in Mark 11--overturning the merchant’s tables in the temple--it resonates with my own feelings of anger at injustice, greed and spiritual abuse. Jesus not only felt anger, but he took action to stop the misrepresentation of God. Scripture doesn’t tell us to never be angry. In fact, Ephesians 4:26 assumes that we will be angry at times with a corresponding admonition: “In your anger, do not sin” (NIV).
*Have you ever told God what you’re angry about?
Sometimes we need to connect with God’s anger about how the sins of others affect us, and learn to lament. I believe that spiritual direction can offer a safe space for this, and even learning about the concept of lament has been helpful for myself & my directees. In my own life, when I was in counseling after the loss of my mother and others close to me, I began to realize that I was also feeling deeply the pains of injustice experienced by the families in my ministry community of South LA. I ended up going to a lake and picking up handfuls of rocks. For each rock, I thought of someone or something that was unjust, a deep loss or a painful reality…and I just angrily threw each stone, one by one, into the lake. It was a physical, and yet deeply spiritual way of expressing my hurt and anger—my lament--to God. The next day my arm was sore!--and I realized I’d had a lot to release. It brings tears to my eyes just remembering all of that pain. But throughout the process, I was acknowledging that God was with me, and that those horrible things broke God’s heart as well. I was experiencing God’s presence as I expressed my deep anger and lament.
Practice: Read Psalm 56. What phrases stand out or resonate with you? What would you like to lament or cry out to God? What comfort can you find in God’s character here?
Other Daily contemplative practices to try:
Lectio Divina-praying/meditating through God’s word.
The “Jesus Prayer”: “Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
Or my own, often-used version of this lamenting prayer: “God, this world is jacked up. And I am jacked up. We’re a mess, but you’re not. I need you!!”
@soulcarewitherica
I’d love to hear from you: soulcarewitherica@gmail.com
