Having given us two strategies we might use as beginners
when contemplative prayer seems more
like a losing battle than an entry into the quietness of God, Anonymous in Chapter 33
continues his instruction: “How contemplative prayer purifies the soul of
individual sins and their lingering pain, but there is still no such thing as
perfect rest in this life” (76-77).
In addition to pretending that we don’t notice distracting
thoughts and even at times surrendering to them, Anonymous intimates that we
have more strategies which he won’t discuss at the present moment. He hesitates not only because he hasn’t
mastered them himself, but also because he’s quite sure we could teach him a
trick or two.
Be that as it may, Anonymous wants us to work hard and
“accept the pain if the going gets tough and nothing happens quickly.” We are to look on our contemplative-prayer
practice as a form of purgatory, that is, a purging.
The whole notion of purgatory and purging is a
difficult one for lots of Christians, especially if they are Protestants. It’s simply not a part of their vocabulary
unless now and then they use the word “purgative” in a medical context where it
implies a cathartic medication. Then too
they have heard the word “purge” used in a political context; as then a
political party eliminates those who are no longer fit to be party members. As
for the possibility of there being a “purgatory” to be experienced after death,
that is nearly anathema. For most
Protestants, it’s either heaven or hell and nothing inbetween. [1]
Be that as it may, Anonymous suggests that contemplative
prayer may serve as one’s purgatory; that is, it may work (we use a medical or
physiological analogy here) as a laxative, getting rid of much that is wasteful
in our lives. In other words, to put it bluntly, contemplative prayer may work
to help us get rid of a lot of crap in our lives.
One classic way to distinguish phrases of growth in one’s
prayer life is to describe the whole of it as three-fold: beginners start on
the “purgative way,” later coming to the “illuminative way” with “affective
prayer” [2], and eventually experiencing the “unitive way.”
In the purgative
way, the Christian seriously attempts to leave behind a life of sin and come to
an accurate knowledge of one’s self and to a true understanding of God’s call
to enter the new life in Christ. Here one leaves behind whatever attachments
keep him from a deeper commitment to the Christian life. One deliberately puts on the mind of Christ
as she or he engages in the struggle to overcome attitudes and patterns of
behavior that tend to draw the individual away from a life of holiness and
service. In this struggle, contemplative
prayer plays a critical role.
As a purgative, contemplative prayer is a spiritual laxative
helping us get rid of what is unpleasant, obnoxious, and often emotionally
painful. And like a laxative, it lessens
much emotional, psychological, and spiritual pain we experience. In contemplative prayer we undergo a
cleansing of “the suffering that [we] have caused [ourselves]” (76). This does not mean that we are free from the
tragedy of sin. We will indeed have to
work hard and beat back temptations “springing up from original sin,” beating
them back “with the awesome, s harp, double-edged sword of discernment” (77).
Notes
1. Not all Protestants, of course. C. S. Lewis, for example, appreciated the
possibility of purgatory and professed a belief in purgatory. In Letters to
Malcolm, Chiefly on Prayer, he wrote:
I
believe in Purgatory.
Mind
you, the Reformers had good reasons for throwing doubt on "the Romish
doctrine concerning Purgatory" as that Romish doctrine had then become. I
don't mean merely the commercial scandal. If you turn from Dante's Purgatorio
to the sixteenth century you will be appalled by the degradation. In Thomas
More's Supplication of Souls Purgatory is simply temporary Hell. In it
the souls are tormented by devils, whose presence is "more horrible and
grievous to us than is the pain itself." Worse still, Fisher, in his
Sermon on Psalm VI, says the tortures are so intense that the spirit who
suffers them cannot, for pain, "remember God as he ought to do." In
fact, the very etymology of the word purgatory has dropped out of sight.
Its pains do not bring us nearer to God, but make us forget Him. It is a place
not of purification but purely of retributive punishment.
The
right view returns magnificently in Newman's Dream. There, if I remember
it rightly, the saved soul, at the very foot of the throne, begs to be taken
away and cleansed. It cannot bear for a moment longer "With its darkness
to affront that light." Religion has reclaimed Purgatory.
Our
souls demand Purgatory, don't they? Would it not break the heart if God
said to us, "It is true, my son, that your breath smells and your rags
drip with mud and slime, but we are charitable here and no one will upbraid you
with these things, nor draw away from you. Enter into the joy"? Should we
not reply, "With submission, sir, and if there is no objection, I'd rather
be cleaned first." "It may hurt, you know"--"Even so,
sir."
I
assume that the process of purification will normally involve suffering. Partly
from tradition; partly because most real good that has been done me in this
life has involved it. But I don't think suffering is the purpose of the
purgation. I can well believe that people neither much worse nor much better
than I will suffer less than I or more. "No nonsense about merit."
The treatment given will be the one required, whether it hurts little or much.
My favourite image on this matter
comes from the dentist's chair. I hope that when the tooth of life is drawn and
I am "coming round," a voice will say, "Rinse your mouth out
with this." This will be Purgatory. The rinsing may take longer
than I can now imagine. The taste of this may be more fiery and
astringent than my present sensibility could endure. But More and Fisher shall
not persuade me that it will be disgusting and unhallowed. (Chapter 20, paragraphs 7-12)
2. A kind of prayer in which the emphasis is on making
aspirations of love towards God, rather than on formulating petitions or
engaging in discursive reflection.
No comments:
Post a Comment