Study Guide, The Cloud of Unknowing, Chapter 18

In Chapter 18 Anonymous cautions us to be aware “
[t]hat still, to this day, actives complain about contemplatives, out of ignorance, just as Martha complained about Mary” (48-49).

After reading this chapter, perhaps, like Mary, you can think of times when you have experienced disparaging remarks made about your contemplative practice, about your doing Centering Prayer. It’s not an uncommon experience. Some Christians look at contemplative prayer practices as unnecessary, too overtly pious, or perhaps unbiblical.  Perhaps someone has suggested that you are too “religious.” And then there’s the problem of hypocrisy.  Such critics (and we ourselves) know that many so-called godly and “prayerful” people have shamed the contemplative tradition by living outrageously wrong-headed lives. Anonymous acknowledges that such criticism happens and is often justified, and he concludes this chapter by suggesting that he may later say more about the matter. But he doesn’t want to take us “too far off course” (47).   So he drops the matter rather abruptly.  As we continue our study of The Cloud, be alert as to when Anonymous picks up this concern again.

If someone does criticize you as a Christian contemplative for being beyond the pale of orthodoxy, a practitioner of New Age ideas, or a proponent of pagan practices, how does one react to such misinformed charges? According to Anonymous, what is the best way to respond to such disapprovals?