Gazing Toward the Divine

Work done by Sr. Mary Grace Thul,OP

Bede Jarrett writes To contemplate is perfectly simple; it is to gaze... The truth of that statement can only be realized with time and patience. For we will not immediately see the Divine when we look. We must take the hunter's stance and watch and wait. We must re-tune our senses to the spiritual world, and learn to see the light in the darkness. We must hear the whispers of God that only come from sustained silence. When we have done this, we have not yet contemplated.

For that, we must accept that God comes to us through the silence. He comes when the prayers we've said seemed unanswered. When the answers we've accepted fail to sustain. When what seemed solid begins to fail, and what seems straight becomes crooked. Then, when our world has been turned upside down, and we continue to believe, then we pierce the veil that shields the Divine from our soul. Then, we touch the untouchable with a sensitivity only given to the patient.

Jarrett says Gradually I find that there are inner meanings to all these sanctities of God, which come to those who patiently await the unfolding of the seed of the kingdom (Classic Catholic Meditations).

Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, Good things come to those who wait.