The Contemplative is a place for exploring stillness, prayer and a deeper relationship with God.
the Contemplative… my sense of the contemplative path is this. I see it as an unfolding journey of devoting one’s life to a simple, reflective, conscious pursuit of an intimate relationship with God. One that involves a first-hand, daily, even minute-to-minute, relationship with Jesus – the living Son of God. The kind of relationship you’d want with your closest loved-one.
I’ve learnt a contemplative life contains certain key elements. It involves simplicity, yet with practices that are meaningful and repeatable anywhere. It involves slowing down so I can contemplate. I need time to reflect and muse, and a desire to become comfortable with silence. I need finely tuned listening skills – for this is a two-way conversation. And it would help if I developed a daily/weekly rhythm so this ‘slowing down’ and ‘listening’ becomes a habit. But there is another vital element – it involves becoming fully conscious. We are obviously going to be consciously developing spiritual senses or antenna, but many contemplative practices ask of us to become ever more conscious of our body’s senses too (including emotions). Why?
the present... I find it profound that God has created us as ‘vessels of clay’ – referring to our bodies. They are vulnerable, easily broken, yet strong enough to contain the most amazing treasure (2 Cor 4:7). And when we first have faith in Jesus the Messiah and confess him as Lord (Rom 10:9), this body of ours is filled with the Holy Spirit. Our bodies become a living temple for God to dwell in (1 Cor 6:19, 1 Cor 3:16). How incredible!
Our senses (both physical and spiritual) are wonderful faculties, but along life’s path they can become easily damaged, or even shut down. Along the contemplative journey, we find by God’s grace, they become restored to the fully functioning conscious listening receptors God first designed them to be. These senses place me in my body, in the present. Why is this important? The present is the only space I can have an intimate connection with God. If I’m “in my head” I’m not grounded, I’m not in touch with my surroundings or what is going on inside me. This cuts me off from a vital part of my communication with God and others. The whole of who I am on this earth resides inside my skin – so the contemplative becomes all of who I am in my body (God’s temple) communicating and resonating with God. The osteopath part of me wants to yell “that’s why our bodies are so important”!
irrelevant... Some readers might be thinking (if you’ve got this far) ‘but I don’t believe in the existence of God’? This is all irrelevant. Some may be ‘god-aware’, but thinking how on earth can you develop an intimate relationship with God anyway? Is that even possible? I can understand your incredulity. But I hope you’ll be curious enough to explore what’s on this website and, if local, even try and attend some of the groups. Because my experience, along with many others both present and down through the ages, is that such a relationship of intimacy is indeed possible. It’s just that maybe our senses and antennas have become dulled, broken or switch off. My belief is that with some simple tweaks our human communication faculties can be repaired and, with practice, start to pick up the rhythms and vibrations of God.
our DNA... What if when we were created something was placed into our very DNA? The perfect communication chip if you will! What if the power supply to this chip had something to do with the depths of intimacy and the power of love we all long for. I believe the contemplative journey begins by having faith and awareness that there is such a part of our DNA present within. This awareness is initiated by God’s love calling us towards the Light. As we experience the removal of the emotional junk and baggage accumulated over years, and become more conscious, we discover that God is closer than we think, and is fully communicating with us all the time – we just need to tune into the right wave length and channel. As this hidden chip in our DNA is powered up by God’s love, my lived experience is of discovering something so unbelievably satisfying and fulfilling – a love I’ve never experienced anywhere else.
I believe the contemplative journey offers us the privilege of tuning in and touching the indescribable depths of the love and goodness of God. The different approaches and practices of the contemplative provide us with the skills to listen in. We just have to perfect these skills ourselves – no one can do it for us. It costs nothing, and yet demands our all!
This site is run by Ian Traynar, a Spiritual Director based in Southampton, UK. Ian is passionate about helping others discover the richness of contemplative spirituality and the transforming power of Silence.
The invitation is simple: to make space, loosen our grip on our own agenda and learn to rest in God’s presence within.