Daily Primer — July 25, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Each day you will be given:
A Florilegium entry
A Daily Prayer
and a Night Prayer.
A Florilegium entry
A Daily Prayer
and a Night Prayer.
For the contemplative and spiritual self, the dormant, mysterious, and hidden self that is always effaced by the activity of our exterior self does not seek fulfillment. It is content to be, and in its being it is fulfilled, because its being is rooted in God.
If, then, you are intent on “becoming a contemplative” you will probably waste your time and do yourself considerable harm by reading this book. But if in some sense you are already a contemplative (whether you know it or not makes little difference), you will perhaps not only read the book with a kind of obscure awareness that it is meant for you, but you may even find yourself having to read the thing whether it fits in with your plans or not. In that event, just read it. Do not watch for the results, for they will already have been produced long before you will be capable of seeing them. And pray for me, because for now on we are, in some strange way, good friends.
I bought Thomas Merton’s book The Inner Experience more than ten years ago. I was at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit and even though I was new to monastic life and new to the contemplative tradition I felt drawn to the brothers. I could see their obvious love of God and what seemed to me to be a peaceful and contented life, and I yearned for what I saw in them and set out to “become a contemplative.” Because I am presbyterian I knew just what to do . . . I marched over to the monastery book store to buy a book about it. I still have my copy of The Inner Experience with my hand-written notes in the margins of the first few pages. Next to the passage I’ve quoted above I wrote simply, “Wow!” and there my notes end. I did not pick up the book again until this year when Ben Johnson agreed to come to Peace Presbyterian Church and teach about Merton and his writings. I remember vividly why I put the book down. I was in the Monastery parlor reading my new book voraciously — eager to figure out how to be a contemplative — and I came to Merton’s warning: If, then, you are intent on “becoming a contemplative” you will probably waste your time and do yourself considerable harm by reading this book. Merton had me pegged and I could see that I was not ready. I was pursuing contemplation as a conquest, as another way to achieve something, and Merton was telling me that trying to be a contemplative that way would hurt me. So I put the book in my satchel to await a day when I could read it without wanting to achieve too much.
Being and doing; the biblical story of Mary and Martha [Luke 10:38-ff]. Prayers or activity? The thing about “activity” is that it can be measured and rated and seen by oneself and others. The thing about “being’ is that unless our being is, as Merton describes it, “rooted in God,” it is built upon falseness and a shaky foundation indeed. Our circumstance is particularly perilous if our being is built upon achievement.
Jesus urges us not to pray publicly [Matthew 6:5-8] — for when we do we receive the shallow and insignificant reward of having others observe our piety. Much better for us to address God in prayers that happen “in secret,” where “our Father, who sees in secret” will notice and respond. And there is more. Jesus urges us to use fewer words. We are not to “heap up phrases, as the Gentiles do; for they think they will be heard because of their many words.” I have a pastor friend who is one of the most powerful speakers I’ve ever heard who said to me a few years ago in reference to his prayer life, “I’m trapped by my own eloquent words which cost me nothing.” We would do well to ponder the question, “what would my prayers look like (sound like) if they cost me something?”
For Merton, the inner spiritual self is always hidden (he uses the word “effaced”). Our true self is, then, “erased” by the “activity of our exterior self.” The interior and spiritual self does not seek. This is critically important if we are to understand what it means to walk in the contemplative path of Christian prayer. The contemplative is not trying to experience anything. The contemplative is not trying to achieve anything other than the peacefulness of simply being with God. This is why so early in his book on the Inner Experience that Merton issues his warning.
The contemplative path is one where we we must not watch too diligently for the results. Merton assures us that the results of this odd and quiet posture of prayer, “will already have been produced long before you will be capable of seeing them.”
If, then, you are intent on “becoming a contemplative” you will probably waste your time and do yourself considerable harm by reading this book. But if in some sense you are already a contemplative (whether you know it or not makes little difference), you will perhaps not only read the book with a kind of obscure awareness that it is meant for you, but you may even find yourself having to read the thing whether it fits in with your plans or not. In that event, just read it. Do not watch for the results, for they will already have been produced long before you will be capable of seeing them. And pray for me, because for now on we are, in some strange way, good friends.
I bought Thomas Merton’s book The Inner Experience more than ten years ago. I was at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit and even though I was new to monastic life and new to the contemplative tradition I felt drawn to the brothers. I could see their obvious love of God and what seemed to me to be a peaceful and contented life, and I yearned for what I saw in them and set out to “become a contemplative.” Because I am presbyterian I knew just what to do . . . I marched over to the monastery book store to buy a book about it. I still have my copy of The Inner Experience with my hand-written notes in the margins of the first few pages. Next to the passage I’ve quoted above I wrote simply, “Wow!” and there my notes end. I did not pick up the book again until this year when Ben Johnson agreed to come to Peace Presbyterian Church and teach about Merton and his writings. I remember vividly why I put the book down. I was in the Monastery parlor reading my new book voraciously — eager to figure out how to be a contemplative — and I came to Merton’s warning: If, then, you are intent on “becoming a contemplative” you will probably waste your time and do yourself considerable harm by reading this book. Merton had me pegged and I could see that I was not ready. I was pursuing contemplation as a conquest, as another way to achieve something, and Merton was telling me that trying to be a contemplative that way would hurt me. So I put the book in my satchel to await a day when I could read it without wanting to achieve too much.
Being and doing; the biblical story of Mary and Martha [Luke 10:38-ff]. Prayers or activity? The thing about “activity” is that it can be measured and rated and seen by oneself and others. The thing about “being’ is that unless our being is, as Merton describes it, “rooted in God,” it is built upon falseness and a shaky foundation indeed. Our circumstance is particularly perilous if our being is built upon achievement.
Jesus urges us not to pray publicly [Matthew 6:5-8] — for when we do we receive the shallow and insignificant reward of having others observe our piety. Much better for us to address God in prayers that happen “in secret,” where “our Father, who sees in secret” will notice and respond. And there is more. Jesus urges us to use fewer words. We are not to “heap up phrases, as the Gentiles do; for they think they will be heard because of their many words.” I have a pastor friend who is one of the most powerful speakers I’ve ever heard who said to me a few years ago in reference to his prayer life, “I’m trapped by my own eloquent words which cost me nothing.” We would do well to ponder the question, “what would my prayers look like (sound like) if they cost me something?”
For Merton, the inner spiritual self is always hidden (he uses the word “effaced”). Our true self is, then, “erased” by the “activity of our exterior self.” The interior and spiritual self does not seek. This is critically important if we are to understand what it means to walk in the contemplative path of Christian prayer. The contemplative is not trying to experience anything. The contemplative is not trying to achieve anything other than the peacefulness of simply being with God. This is why so early in his book on the Inner Experience that Merton issues his warning.
The contemplative path is one where we we must not watch too diligently for the results. Merton assures us that the results of this odd and quiet posture of prayer, “will already have been produced long before you will be capable of seeing them.”
A devotion I wrote for Lent in 2011. It begins with a quote from Thomas Merton. The Inner Experience, pp 2-3.
Florilegium is the Medieval Latin word for bouquet, or more literally flowers (flos, flor-) which are gathered (legere). The word florilegium was used to refer to a compilation of writings, often religious or philosophical. These florilegium are literary flowers—beautiful words/prayers/thoughts I have gathered. During my sabbatical they will give me something to ponder each day. — PHL.
Lord, help us as we enter into the secret place of prayer. Free us from every hindrance to simply and joyfully being with you. Set us upon the path of prayers which run deep and tap into the well-spring of your grace. Amen.
PHL
We thank you, O Lord, almighty God,
for you have permitted us through the course of this day
to reach this vesper hour.
As we lift up our hands to you,
may our prayers be acceptable to you;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
for you have permitted us through the course of this day
to reach this vesper hour.
As we lift up our hands to you,
may our prayers be acceptable to you;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
from the Sarum Psalter - Vespers as quoted in God Be in My Head...Prayers from Old Sarum by Paul Stratman.