The contemplative tradition of the Church teaches that contemplative prayer is the normal development of the practice of the Christian life. The exercise of the gift of tongues as well as the reflective reading of the word of God in Scripture normally leads to a growing attraction for interior silence and prayer. Prayer groups as well as individuals experience this evolution. The initial fervor flowing from baptism in the Spirit, just as the initial fervor following commitment to Christ through some similar conversion experience, tends to settle down and to turn into dryness in prayer and devotional practices. Difficulty in discursive meditation, boredom with spiritual exercises, and restlessness with one's private or group prayer begins to predominate. These signs are the usual introduction into the dark night of sense, of which St. John of the Cross gave a classic description in The Dark Night of the Soul.

At this critical turning point in the spiritual journey, the traditional teaching of the Church about purification from the roots of sin is essential for members of prayer groups. Otherwise, they may give up praying altogether. They must be encouraged to see this period of pervasive dryness as a necessary stage in the growth of the risen life of Christ within them. In the model developed in Centering Prayer, these periods of dryness are explained as part of the purification of the unconscious, without which our initial experience of conversion suffers the same fate as the seed that falls on rocky ground described by Jesus in the parable of the sower. Another way of envisioning these times of dryness is as a more intimate sharing in the Paschal mystery. The emptying of Christ described by Paul in Philippians 2:5-10 has entered into them, like the leaven hidden in the dough described by Jesus in another of his parables. As humility grows, so do compassion for others, submission to God, and the kind of confidence in God that leads to self-surrender.

At this crucial period in one's spiritual development, it is important to realize the sharp distinction between charismatic gifts such as tongues, prophecy, healing, etc., and the Seven Gifts of the Spirit. According to Paul, the charismatic gifts (with the exception of tongues) are designed for the building up of the local community. They do not necessarily indicate that those who possess them are either holy or becoming holy through their exercise. If one is attached to them, they are an obstacle to genuine spiritual growth. For those who have received one or more of these gifts, this is clearly part of God's plan for their sanctification and a cause for gratitude. But they must learn to exercise these gifts with detachment and not take pride in themselves because they happen to be the recipients of a special grace. Generally God provides sufficient external trials to take care of this human tendency. Prophets, healers, and administrators can greatly benefit from opposition, because it tends to free them from the fascination of their gifts and to keep them humble.

The Beatitudes are more profound expressions of the Spirit and grow, together with faith and the expansion of divine love, in the hearts of mature Christians. Through the transforming path of the Beatitudes, the Spirit replaces the hesitations of human reason (even when enlightened by faith) with the certitude of divine inspiration. Each of the fruits of the Spirit and the Beatitudes should be studied in depth as a means of understanding and cooperating with the movements of the Spirit, which alone lead to holiness.

Christian transformation takes place under the power of the theological virtues--faith, hope, and charity. The Seven Gifts of the Spirit raise these virtues to the divine mode of functioning. One sees, feels, discerns, and loves in the same way God sees, feels, discerns, and loves. Ultimately, divine love becomes the source of one's conscious life and activity. "I" or "me" is no longer the center of motivation. Christ manifests himself in and through one's transformed human nature.

Paul himself emphasizes the distinction between charismatic gifts that are given to build up the body of Christ and the substantial gift of divine love. According to him, one possessing the charismatic gifts is still nothing unless one also possesses divine love (see I Cor. 13:1-3). Hence, the basic thrust of charismatic prayer and the exercise of the charismatic gifts should be ordered to the growth of faith, hope, and charity. To remain faithful to the clear invitation to divine union extended by God through the grace of baptism of the Spirit, one must not be diverted by secondary manifestations of spiritual development. Moreover, there is need for discernment with even the most genuine charismatic gifts. It is the duty of the community or its representatives to discern these gifts and to determine whether they spring from grace or from the natural energies of the unconscious. Those who possess them should willingly submit to this discernment for the good of the community Otherwise, the exercise of the gifts may be destructive of the common good rather than a means of building up the body of Christ.

Along with the charismatic gifts, which may be given to anyone without a corresponding level of personal spiritual development, so-called "mystical" phenomena, such as clairvoyance, locutions, visions, levitation, trance states, and many others, may accompany spiritual development as one accesses the divine emerging from the ontological unconscious. These also are of little significance compared to the graces of interior transformation set in motion by the Seven Gifts of the Spirit. The unusual and sometimes showy character of "mystical" phenomena makes them a hazard for immature mystics. It is difficult for even advanced persons to avoid taking a certain self-satisfaction in them.

The Charismatic Renewal needs spiritual guides who are thoroughly qualified through knowledge and personal experience of contemplative prayer to distinguish what is essential from what is accidental in the spiritual path. They should be able to recognize when someone is being called by God to interior silence and solitude and when someone is being called out of solitude into some particular ministry or service. People must be encouraged to follow the attraction to interior silence in prayer even if this means not attending prayer meetings for a time. This is especially necessary if, because of the duties of one's state in life, one cannot attend prayer meetings and still have time to practice contemplative prayer. Periods of silence in the liturgy and during prayer meetings are essential for groups whose members are growing in prayer. To allow one another space in which to develop the contemplative dimension of the gospel is an integral part of commitment to a Christian community.

One of the most significant contributions to the renewal of the spirituality of the contemporary Church is an enthusiasm for Scripture. Scripture reading is the best place to construct a bridge between the renewal and the ancient tradition of contemplative prayer. The word of God is the source of Christian contemplation. Listening to that word at deepening levels of attention is the traditional method of apprenticeship to contemplative prayer. In the classic monastic practice of Lectio Divina, the reading of Scripture in an attitude of attentive docility led to the deep penetration of the sacred text, moving the hearts of believers to respond in spontaneous prayer. As regular practice transformed attention into intention, the love of God tended to supplant the flow of reflections and particular acts of devotion with the simplicity of resting in God. The movement from sacred reading to resting in God is part of the dynamics of a deepening life of prayer.

To develop the contemplative dimension of the gospel, Charismatics have only to deepen their listening to the word of God in Scripture, remembering that this word also dwells within them. There is no opposition between the outward and inward word of God. They mutually confirm and reinforce each other The inward word speaks in silence, in the directness of love. The word expressed in the proclamation of the gospel or in private reading of the sacred text is the same word that emerges from the eternal silence of the Father and is present in our inmost being, where he awakens our understanding to the divine mysteries to which Scripture points. We do not reject thinking, but go beyond thinking when attracted by the absorbing presence of the Spirit.

What is necessary is to be detached from concepts in relating to God, for Scripture reveals God as incomprehensible, infinite, and ineffable: "To what have you compared me?" (Is. 40:18) Commenting on these prophetic words of Isaiah, St. John of the Cross warns that if we have excessive reliance on concepts to go to God, we are likely to fall into human projections and the kind of image-making that God condemned with such force in the Old Testament. We must accept God as God is. Faith purified from attachment to any concept and love purified from attachment to consolation, even the most spiritual, knows God in the immediacy of divine union. Contemplative prayer is the best apprenticeship for divine union. It is the exercise of pure faith, trust, and love, proved by waiting for God without giving up or going away It is letting go of the false self, the "old man" in Paul's terms, and the building of the "new man"-- and the "new woman"--under the motivating power of the indwelling Spirit.

The risen Christ addresses us from without in order to teach us to listen inwardly to his spiritual impressions. The contemplative life is to live not only in God's presence but out of God's presence. We become the word of God through the transformation effected by faith, hope, and divine love. Then we will be witnesses to Christ in our very being.

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Excerpted from Intimacy with God by Fr. Thomas Keating

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