From Prayer to Contemplation

Our Easter Season of Preaching at South Presbyterian Church in Bergenfield is drawn from the lectionary texts in the Letter of 1 John.  

This blog is a place to explore questions and considerations outside Sunday's Service of Worship.  When to introduce it has been a question since before Easter.  As we move from Prayer (hopefully an obvious "Christian thing") to Contemplation, this seemed to be the right moment.

In our grid, Contemplation falls at the crossing of Loving God and the Deed of Thought.  Thinking about our God.  Prayer fell at the crossing of Loving God and the Deed of Speech.  It is interactive, conversational.  Contemplation is more reflective.

What is Contemplation?  Ever been struck by a sunrise or a sunset?  Maybe an eclipse, even if NJ was not in the line of Totality?  It is a 'Wow' moment in the realization of who God is.  Again, that is a glimpse of 'contemplation'.  There is an entire tradition within Christianity that I understand as a focus on the contemplative, "Mysticism".  

Is it meditation?  Kind of, but focused on the Almighty.  

Is it necessary?  Recharging the Heart on considering how Great Is God certainly does not hurt.

Is it "required"?  Not in any sense that we have to do more than have faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.  

So what's it good for?  Grounding us.  It might be the realization that God's creation was VERY good according to Genesis 1.  It might be the pursuit of understanding how deep is the Love of God that Jesus died for us.  

This is the blog of Rev. Peter Hofstra, a vaired and, I will admit, sometines random or even odd postings that you are welcome to peruse.  But it is also the place of the here and now, in the present circumstances that the Lord has blessed me with.  I invite constructive comment and feedback.