Contemplation—Finding a Spacious Place Within
As God promised to give the people of Israel a spacious country in which to dwell (Gen 13: 14–17), so God promises us a spacious place within—and that’s the place we call the soul. Richard Rohr, Simplicity, P. 93.
Contemplation, Rohr says, is the search for a wide-open space. P. 98
The soul calls out for God and, the more it does so, the greater becomes the soul’s capacity to receive the grace of God. The more the grace of God pours into one’s soul, the greater becomes the spacious place within, where God would make his dwelling place.
As God desires to be at one with us, so we desire to be at one with God. Contemplative prayer is the staying-power that enables us to be at one with God.
As one sits in quiet stillness, gazing with love upon the Holy One, one can almost feel the expansion of one’s soul as it receives the essence of God’s grace. Such a generous God we have and, in return, we cannot help but respond in gratitude.
I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Eph 3:16–19
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Judith Lawrence
Judith is a Professional member of The Word Guild and author of two non-fiction books, Prayer Companion: A Treasury of Personal Meditation, and Glorious Autumn Days: Meditations for the Wisdom Years, as well as one book of mystical poetry, Grapes from the Vine. Judith writes a monthly meditation, which can be found on her website: www.judithlawrence.ca.
