Action & Contemplation - Part 2

I’ll try to illustrate my point further with an example. I lead groups of people on short-term mission trips. If I were leaving every Saturday for a mission trip and coming home every Friday, only to leave again the next morning, I would lead a very active life (don't worry, this is not my practice). Parker Palmer seems to be an action oriented guy, and good makes defense of the contemplation that can and should take place in action. I agree that something needs to be said to both move the heavy-footed contemplatives toward action and move the light-footed activists toward slowing down. If I kept the schedule above (even if I took a posture of contemplation-in-action) I would not have adequate space to develop, adjust, modify, and properly critique my own work. I would also quickly burn myself out. And the incompatibility comes in that phrase “adequate space.” Space yes, but not adequate space. Palmer seems to invite us to drag the boundary lines over a bit, and increase our percentages, but I don’t think we can entirely merge these two concepts. They are incompatible in that they can not maintain union. We can stir them together but they naturally separate without continuous conscious effort. I believe that is ok, and do not wish to move myself to some middle place where I am constantly doing both.

Palmer, in The Active Life, speaks of the tension between the two and that is what led me to think of the perpetual motion illustration. The balls move/rest/move/rest with a tension that is perpetual. I thought also of a gyroscope and how that as the rotor spins, the two gimbals (here we could call one “contemplation” and the other “action”) help maintain the stability of the rotor. In this illustration, the fact that they are separate “things” actually preserves both themselves and the rotor from into destruction.

The opposite of my above personal illustration is also true. If I stayed home all year and just thought about missions work I may come up with the best “model for missions” ever created but I would grow stagnant. Instead, (and this is what I feel Palmer is essentially suggesting) my action is balanced by my contemplation and my contemplation is done with action in mind. There is a force, or a gravity in my illustrations because that is what I feel in reality. I feel a pull to become active in the poverty and injustice that I see, and I feel a pull to reflect on all that I experience. Action and contemplation are oil and water, high tide and low tide, cats and dogs, but I love them both and need them both because of the unique aspects that they both bring to my life. Something mixed in the middle misses the full joy that comes with living the extremes.

Action & Contemplation

As a kid, my neighbors had in their house a perpetual motion toy that I was always fascinated with (like the one pictured above). Every time we would visit them I would go find this little desktop toy and experiment with it. When you pulled a ball off to the side and released it, the ball would drop down and strike the other balls sending only the ball on the opposite side into motion. This phenomenon took place in varying proportions depending on the number of balls that were “active.” It was no fun to activate all of the balls at once. They would simply swing back and forth together and, for some reason, that seemed completely uninteresting to me. However, to watch a ball immediately switch from the “active” position to the still position was mesmerizing. I could literally play with that toy for hours.

In The Active Life, Parker Palmer views action and contemplation as weights on opposite ends of the same string. They are each propelled into motion by the motion of the other. It reminds me of the perpetual motion toy. The “active” parts must come to rest, and in doing so the resting (or “contemplative”) parts are flung into motion. Palmer wants to balance the scales and give equal weight to both contemplation and action. However, in my experimentation with the toy, I found that there was never true balance. If you activate two parts then three remain at rest, if you activate three parts then only two remain at rest. It seems there is no even or fair way to treat both parts equally. Action and Contemplation are compatible in the sense that they are both attached to the same structure that we call life. They are incompatible in the sense that they cannot be activated simultaneously and still operate correctly.

"Teach us to pray."

Jesus’ own disciples said, “Teach us to pray.” I think that mindset is the starting point. There is a Zen principle called “the beginners mind” that I first read about in Richard Rohr’s book Everything Belongs. Thomas Merton summarizes the concept in a segment from Contemplative Prayer (quoted in Spiritual Classics) by saying “Those who think they ‘know’ from the beginning will never, in fact, come to know anything.” So, when attempting to begin contemplative prayer practices, anyone who feels frustrated and ignorant is in a good place. It’s the “Teach us to pray” place that the disciples were in, and it’s the humility of “beginners mind”.

I’ve lost what I once knew about prayer.

Merton also calls contemplative prayer “death – a kind of descent into our own nothingness, a recognition of helplessness, frustration, infidelity, confusion, ignorance.” How many times have we heard encouragement to pray tagged with that kind of incentive? The Cloud of Unknowing actually encourages us to imagine that we are going to die at the end of our prayer. That would definitely change our stance before God. (Read more about that here: “an unusual prayer tip”)

Somewhere I read something about even the most trained monks, after forty minutes of silent prayer, may only have a brief moment of actually achieving silence. And many never have any “experiences” of note. I was encouraged and discouraged by that all at the same time. But, if we are simply looking for an “experience” then I think we have it all wrong. This isn’t a game and there aren’t any shortcuts or easy buttons.

Nearly everything I’ve seen on contemplative prayer practices encourages some kind of spiritual direction and guidance as you begin. I have had some difficulty finding anyone who was willing to take on that role so I’ve opted for spiritual companions along the way. I’d still love to find a prayer director. My prayer life has been wrecked for a while now. So often I feel as though I don’t know what to say anymore. Maybe that’s a good thing. When I pray out loud in class or in meetings I frequently begin with a long pause and in that moment I wonder if I’d be better off not saying anything.

Jesus, teach me to pray.

5 Bridges from Contemplation to Action

Dag Hammarskjold wrote, "The road to holiness necessarily passes through the world of action."

I was asked...

What sorts of "bridges" could we build from contemplation to action? I mean, we are sitting on our comfortable couch contemplating (with coffee, of course). What can motivate us to action? What sorts of "strategies" might we use, what sorts of theological principles might we put in place to encourage this move?

I want to suggest five bridges that must be crossed on that road that leads us from contemplation toward action. They must all be crossed before action can be realized fully. Order is important.

Bridge #1: Integrity & Conviction

Contemplation forces us to come fact to face with ourselves. Time spent with God quickly reveals areas in our life where we are living with cognitive dissonance. Our values say one thing but our lives are not congruent with that message. The contemplative life leads us toward a life of integrity. I believe Dietrich Bonhoffer called this “becoming one man”. In my experience, that process is like coming out of a cave (so maybe you want to think of this as a covered bridge). Once we have begun living a life of integrity (in the light) we begin to develop deep convictions in line with the heart of God.

Bridge #2: Voicing

As our convictions deepen we begin to voice them. This is a two stage process. So we may want to envision a bridge here that has two levels. The first level is individual voicing. This is the kind of action we take around our friends. It is the “quiet testimony” of John Woolman as described by Richard Foster. (Streams of Living Water, p.140). The second level of is social voicing. This includes any public platform that can be used for creating awareness about injustices.

Bridge #3: Passionate Struggle

In our journey from compassion to action we must be aware of the struggle that will rage inside us. Foster describes Woolman’s struggle as “great distress”. We will face opposition and sometimes that opposition will come from within ourselves. We will want to give up and stop fighting because the issue is too big or we fear offending others and dishonoring God, or we feel alone. Ronald Rolheiser reminds us that "the struggle for justice and peace is not ultimately about winning or losing but about fidelity... Short-term political effectiveness is not as important as long-term fidelity to personal conscience, personal faith, and personal charity." (The Holy Longing, p.188). This is a narrow bridge across a deep chasm that can only be walked alone.

Bridge#4: Creative Mind

Passionate struggle leads to a creative mind. On this bridge we begin to get ideas and energy for our journey. We see things in new ways and see old obstacles as new stepping stones for achieving our goal. Imagine a sturdy bridge with a great view. This may be the most fun we have had on our journey so far.

Bridge #5: Modest Spirit

In this final stage we are forced onto a narrow bridge which will not accommodate our ego. We must leave it behind to press forward into our action.

It may be important to note the bridges to injustice as well. I see three.

Injustice Bridge #1: Abuse of Power

This takes many forms including physical, emotional, economical, political, and even ecclesiastical.

Injustice Bridge #2: Creativity

Yes the enemy uses creativity too.

Injustice Bridge #3: Threats

I think of this as negative voicing. We may be voicing our deep convictions but those dealing injustice will be more than ready to do their share of voicing as well. We must be aware.