Baptism in the Spirit and Contemplation

[Joysong]

Dave (DBT),

Part of this process is to learn to listen to that still small voice to pick up on a “word” from scripture (i.e. Seek His Face) that you can carry with you throught the day. The goal is to learn to ponder in your heart always, just as Mary and all the Saints did.

What a great idea this is, and your example for the rest of us will catch fire, I pray. St. Francis de Sales taught us to carry a little nosegay from our morning meditation so that we could breathe in its delicious scent throughout our day. I think your presenting this to your family as ‘picking up a word’ to ponder later is excellent! Sounds like something right out of the heart from the Holy Spirit.

Your steadfastness and orderliness throughout your day gives us encouragement, too. When I think about God’s creation of ‘day’ … it makes sense that there is order and timeliness as the sun goes from rising to setting. Sometimes, my morning LOTH doesn’t begin my day, but I pray it later after mass. Not good, for sometimes I miss out when the time for it has passed. The sun is already near high noon.

Thanks for sharing your daily routine with us.

 

[InLight247]

Originally by **GemmaRose **
interior silence

Originally by **DBT **
Part of this process is to learn to listen to that still small voice to pick up on a “word” from scripture (i.e. Seek His Face) that you can carry with you throughout the day. The goal is to learn to ponder in your heart always, just as Mary and all the Saints did.

How interesting “interior silence’"and “learn to listen” come up the moment I was reading St. John of the Cross’ teaching about purity and simplicity of divine knowledge. St. John was talking about how God gradually lead a person from Bible reading, listening to sermons, and discursive meditation to contemplation.

God cannot be encompassed by any image, form, or particular knowledge, in order to be united with him the soul should not be limited by any particular form or knowledge.(The Ascent, Book II, Chapter 16: 7)

Only the likeness can unite. Since God’s wisdom is pure and simple, the soul also has to be pure and simple in order to reach union. This reminds me of what Jesus said. If one is not like a little child, one cannot enter the kingdom.

In order to keep our minds and thoughts simple, and our knowledge toward God simple, interior silence is a must. Although one may remain quiet and calm inside among noises, exterior silence definitely helps the interior concentration. While driving, I always try to pray, my husband always has to listen to CD. Even we were listening to worship songs, it still disturbs my concentration. I can learn to listen better with interior silence, best formed in quietness and in solitude, and reach better simplicity inside.

 

[Godlovestrength]

I have been reading this and thought you might like to read it to.

No one can give me knowledge but the Holy Spirit. A person who has knowledge and tries to impart it to me, gives me information.
I must experience this information that has been given to me before it becomes my knowledge.
The Holy Spirit, however, can and does give you and me knowledge without our having to experience it.

Eliminate Distractions

For the person untrained in listening to the Holy Spirit, ways must be found to avoid any intrusion upon the senses of touch, sight, smell, taste or sound.
Music, noise in the distance, the tick of a clock, voices of people, the gentle breeze of the wind, even the written words of others in inspirational books - each will cause a distraction and prompt us to listen to what our ear or other senses are picking up.
The quieter the room or surroundings, the more conducive to listening to the Holy Spirit . . . “Whenever you pray, go to your room, close the door, and pray . . . in private.”

Learning to listen was extremely difficult for me at first.
There were many distractions, hindering my ability to listen, that I had to overcome.
The following hints were the best methods that I discovered to isolate or remove myself from those distractions:
*An extremely quiet room eliminated any noise that would attract attention through my ears.
*A very comfortable position in a chair or bed helped to eliminate much of my sense of feeling.
You, however, must choose the posture most helpful to you for meditation.
*Lacing my fingers together, placing the palms together or sitting on my hands helped me become unaware of them.
*Any odor or scent could be a distraction.
*Closing my eyes in a dark or semi-dark room eliminated any visual distraction.

Another, though quite different, type of distraction for the beginner is curiosity, our impatience to know the future or the outcome - like wanting to peek at the last page of that mystery book when we’re halfway through the story.
We must be content to let the Holy Spirit guide us from moment to moment and offer the solutions, without our interference and without trying to write our own ending.
Just as the child wraps his little fingers around the index finger of his father and, with complete confidence, allows himself to be guided, so too must we allow ourselves to be guided by the Holy Spirit. 'Unless you become as a little child . . ."
Godbless