NSoC 29: Mental Prayer

See Notes on this series...

Merton states here that techniques of meditation and mental prayer are fine as long as we set them aside once in a while in order to let our mind do its job. He says the purpose of meditation books is to teach us to think instead of doing our thinking for us. Simply reading these books is wasteful, he says, because we aren't allowing them to stimulate our thinking. Rather, we should set the books aside when our mind keys in on a particular image or phrase, following the image or phrase to its conclusion for us rather than the conclusion reached by the author. We need that freedom of the mind, especially to keep us from only thinking of God during "fixed periods of the day."

Merton touts the arts as a method for meditation. Writing, drawing, viewing art, and using the liturgy of the church are all aids to meditation.

People meditate for the wrong reasons, says Merton. Meditation for ideas about God, or for courage to practice virtue, or to work up a greater love for God all fall short of the meditative purpose. The real purpose of it, he says, is to teach us to free ourselves from the temporal and come into contact with God. There is a darkness there, he warns, when we realize the "cloud" that surrounds God, but he says we should continue the meditative practice in spite of the obstacles, because there is a reward for suffering through the darkness. We aren't to strain ourselves in order to work up some feeling or emotion, but to stay the course. The idea isn't to think about God but to get past that by reaching "out for Him by blind faith and hope and love."

Quaff:
The AMiA has come out with a revised prayer book. I asked for one for my birthday; we'll see if it comes through. I now feel I have a little more insight as to how to use it, thanks to Merton and this chapter.