"In order to describe different methods of prayer St. Teresa made use of the simile of irrigation. Water drawn laboriously from a well she represents as meditative or non-mystical prayer; the abundance given by the chain pump corresponds to the prayer of contemplation, while showers of rain resemble the prayers in which the soul is passive under the actions of God. Rodriguez also describes these two methods: the one of irrigation by manual labor, which he, too, calls meditation; and irrigation by means of rain from the sky, representing contemplation, "In which a man is so transported and absorbed in God, that he forgets both whence he came and whither he goes."
Statue of "The ecstasy of St. Teresa".
2 comments:
Have you read the book "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis? There's a portion of the book where he talks about a man kneeling by his bed to pray. And how Christ is right next to him, helping him, and the Holy Spirit is inside him, helping him. So that prayer becomes this beautiful, natural, free-flowing, God-breathed living thing.
Sheila Walsh at the Women of Faith conference talked about how she learned to get off her knees and pray, and that God moved in her heart to show her that prayer is not something we force ourselves to do in a ritualistic sort of way, but something He does in us, and wants to do in us and through us all day long every single day. What a freeing and beautiful truth!
Good to have you back mel. Missed your encouraging comments. Yes, I have read Mere Christianity. God has used that book to inspire many, a true classic.
Fred
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