Ours is not a culture conducive to reflection. There is not only a barrage of sensory stimuli around us, but also an atmosphere of brief encounters. Our attention spans are much shorter than they were in the past. There is an aura of hastiness and superficiality in many areas of people’s lives that they are, by and large, unconscious of.
Developing a meaningful connection with God requires attentiveness. We need to be still, habitually so. This stillness begins through the practice of detachment from the world of sense and detachment from self. If we are preoccupied with worldly interests and agitated by too much attachment – by too strong an affection for people, by jealousies, by the memory of those who have hurt us, or by harsh judgements – we will not be able to talk to God.
If, during the day, we have been slandering our neighbour, losing our temper with our children, or ridiculing a workmate, it will be hard to find the presence of God in prayer. We need to tone this down; then love will take first place in our soul and rise towards God naturally, whether in sadness or joy.
If this agitation is not going on in us, what, in the person of prayer, is going on?
Many saints describe the interior world of a person of prayer in terms of mountain climbing. From The Ascent of Mount Carmel of St John of the Cross to The Journey of the Mind to God by St Bonaventure, and The Ladder of Divine Ascent by St John Climacus, they describe it as difficult, requiring preparation, perseverance, and detachment from distractions in the valley below. It is an ascent from the external world of the senses to inner contemplation.
But it is a journey worth the cost – at the top of the mountain we shall meet heaven – and we know that “it is good for us to be here” (Matthew 17:4).
Training for the climb means often lifting our thoughts and hearts to God as we go through the day, speaking to Christ about every little thing, as though he were the guide who will take us up the mountain. By becoming familiar with him in this way, we shall have something to say to him; above all, we shall know how to listen to his inspirations because we shall be on intimate terms with him.
There used to be an expression, “sanctify the hour,” by which people were taught to offer it to the Lord so as to be more united to him in the next hour. As well, people were advised to multiply, from morning until evening, acts of love of God and neighbour; not mechanically, but spontaneously, as the moment suggested.
For example, when meeting someone we don’t like, we could make an act of love for that person. If we get into the habit of these practices, we will find that when we settle down to pray in the evening, we are more closely united to God – and further up the mountain.
Another form of training for the climb is to create silence in our soul. We quiet the passions to hear the voice of God, who speaks in a soft voice, like a friend speaking to a friend. If we are in the habit of thinking of lower things – of ourselves, seeking ourselves in our work, study, and exterior activity – how will we be prepared to delight in the mysteries that prayer and spiritual reading unfold to us: to contemplate the Trinity, the Incarnation, and the Eucharist?
The clamour of this shallow world must stop. We must move away from it to allow God to work profoundly in us so that we may become interiorly silent and submit with docility to the higher part of the soul.
We need to work constantly to stoke the fires of love so that they are never extinguished but continually fed with a generosity sustained by faithfulness to our everyday duties. Thus, we become fit for the climb towards uninterrupted conformity to the will of God and deep intimacy with him.
“So then, my dear ones, just as you have always obeyed my instructions with enthusiasm, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation – that is, cultivate it, bring it to full effect, actively pursue spiritual maturity with awe-inspired fear and trembling, using serious caution and critical self-evaluation to avoid anything that might offend God or discredit the name of Christ.
For it is not your strength, but it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work – strengthening, energising, and creating in you the longing and the ability to fulfil your purpose for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12–13).
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