Sister Joan Chittister, a Roman Catholic Benedictine sister, has written about Contemplation in the midst of chaos.  She writes:

“Today’s reflection on Contemplation in the Midst of Chaos is about your life—the one, you fear, is not spiritual enough because of its complexities and concerns. Spirituality, we have come to believe, is the province of those who manage to escape from the pressures of life. But if withdrawal is of the essence of the spiritual life, then whole generations of spiritual sages have been wrong,

The truly spiritual person, tradition teaches us, knows that spirituality is concerned with how to live a full life, not an empty one. The fact is, all we have in life is life. Things—the cars, the houses, the educations, the jobs, the money—come and go. They turn to dust between our fingers eventually, they change and disappear. No, things do not make life. The gift of life, the secret of it, is that life must be developed from the inside out, from what we bring to it from within ourselves, not from what we collect or consume as we go through it, not even from what we experience in the course of it.”

I find Sister Chittister’s reflection on prayer in the midst of busy lives to be so helpful.  It reminds us that the faithful life has to include both the journey inward and the journey outward.  As she writes:  “Contemplation leads us to see into the present with the eye of the soul so that we can see into the glimpse of heaven that each life carries within itself. It takes us back inside ourselves and leads us back out of ourselves at the same time.”

In the midst of the demands of life with all its business, it can be counter-cultural to insist that we need to find space for prayer and reflection.  It is hard to cultivate the attitude that Martin Luther tried to live out when he said:  “God, I am so very busy today that I need to take extra time for prayer.” 

One of the reasons being part of a church is so important to me is that it calls me back to God.  I so very need to be part of a community that reminds me that spiritual nurture is not a luxury, but a necessity in a busy life.  And so I am very thankful for this community of faith.  Let us support each other as we seek contemplation even in the midst of life’s chaos!

Peace!

Pastor Paige