Richard Rohr writes: ‘When I established the Center for Action and Contemplation in New Mexico in 1987, well-meaning folks asked if I had not put the words in the wrong order. Shouldn’t ‘contemplation’ come first…’
I would have been one of Richard’s ‘well-meaning folks’. I can still hear myself in school saying, ‘You didn’t think, did you? You didn’t consider the consequences of your actions. You must think first!’
Musing… conversations at church yesterday… Felicity’s 13 and has to decide what subjects she is choosing for GCSE… James certainly thought carefully before he put in his application to join the army… Laurence is thinking about his wedding…
Esther posted: ‘Sometimes I shock myself with the smart stuff I say and do. Then there are times when I try to get out of the car with my seat belt on.’
Jesus himself said that if you’re going to build a tower we must first work out if you can finish it. If you run out of money half way through people will laugh at you!
Think before you act!
Rohr answers: ‘No, it was deliberate. We have nothing to contemplate – until we have acted and moved beyond ourselves, and outside of our comfort zones.’
Wow!
Musing… three conversations last week… Mike, who I invited to come back church… Stella, whose husbands dementia is deteriorating… Rose, whose work is affecting her physical and mental health…
Each needs to step outside their comfort zones and do something,.
I’m sometimes accused (perhaps with some justification!!) of over-thinking things. I pray for wisdom this week – for the times I don’t need to contemplate, count the cost, weigh up the consequences – I just need to act.
Rohr describes a dance: ‘…a divine two-step, back and forth between action and contemplation. It is an art form that takes your whole life to perfect, till eventually you are acting with full-conscious union with God, and you are contemplating while holding, carrying and transforming the pain of the world within you.’
malcolmsmusings.org 