In general, the more perfectionistic, legalistic, and ritualistic you are, the less contemplative you are.
In general, the more perfectionistic, legalistic, and ritualistic you are, the less contemplative you are.
For the contemplative, God becomes more a verb than a noun, more a process than a conclusion, more an experience than a dogma, more a personal relationship than an idea. The Christ is a Living Word long before he was a written or spoken word.
No wonder all of the great liturgical prayers of the churches end with the phrase: “through Christ our Lord, Amen.” We do not pray to Christ; we pray through Christ.
The core task of all good spirituality is to teach us to “cooperate” with what God already wants to do and has already begun to do through us (see Romans 8:28). In fact, nothing good or life-giving would even enter our minds unless in the previous moment God had already “moved” within us! We are always and forever merely “seconding the motion.” God makes the first motion.