Welcome back to day seven, everybody. So for today in the next two days, I want to do a bit of a deeper dive on three different ways of studying or exploring this human phenomenon of contemplation. Today, I want to focus on the theology of contemplation tomorrow on the psychology and then two days out on some of the emerging neuroscience related to contemplation. And I just want to note that today's theology of contemplation might be the most technical, perhaps introducing you to terms that you haven't seen much of before. But I want to do my best to make those simple and practical so that you can really apply them to your own practice. So it might be worthwhile to begin by reflecting on what exactly theology is.

Not everyone in our culture necessarily has been exposed to theology. And it derives from two words in the Greek they ask which is the word for god or gods and logos which is the word for reason. A rational inquiry. So by ology is the study of life. theology is the study of God. Or we might say it's a rational inquiry using our human intellect.

It's an inquiry into or a study about what can we know about God. Now, of course, theology is its own academic discipline. It's also sort of unique because that which we are studying, that is God transcends anything that we can ultimately know through our normal Ways of Knowing through direct experience and observation. And this leads to in the contemplative tradition, what is sometimes referred to as negative theology. So since God transcends anything that we can know directly, we must approach God through what one classic writer calls a Cloud of Unknowing. We have to let go of all that we think we know so that we can know that which is beyond anything We can think that we can know and touch infinite love.

So there are three basic concepts that I want to introduce you to, that really lay the foundations for a theology of contemplation. And the first one is the Christian teaching or doctrine called the incarnation. This is captured in the Gospel of john where he writes the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And I've included a picture here from the St. John's Bible, of the Divine Light infusing into this human form of Jesus. So the Incarnation is the Christian doctrine, that the Son of God, or the word, or the second person of the Trinity, became fully human in the person of Jesus Christ, a real historical person who lived in the first century of the Common Era, and what we would call Israel and at the time was called Palestine. So incarnated incarnation literally means taking on flesh as incarnate and flesh.

The second teaching is Grace or the grace of the Holy Spirit, captured here by Paul and Romans, where he says, God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. So grace literally means gift. And in Christian theology, it refers to the gifts offered by God, to human persons through the actions of the Holy Spirit. So God's love has been poured out into our hearts, contemplation is our preparing of our hearts to receive that outpouring. Finally, a somewhat odd term, demonisation also sometimes referred to as de ification, or in Greek theosis. And this concept is captured by Saint Athanasius writing in the fourth century, he puts it simply as the Son of God became human, so that we might become like God.

Now, even for many Christians, this teaching is somewhat surprising. But the claim is real, that the Christian tradition of holds that we really can taste and experience this union with God in this life and in this body. It won't be completed in this lifetime, but we can really taste it and become one with God. So if those three form the foundations for a theology of contemplation, a classic articulation of the three stages of this transformation is provided by an unknown writer, who we call pseudo Dionysius who lived in the late 50s and early six centuries. And he outlines three classic stages of this transformation that have resonated with many of the other great mystics and writers and saints in the tradition. And these are the The first stage of illumination, the second stage of purgation, or purification, and the third stage, leading to divine union.

So illumination includes what is often experienced as those first fruits or tastes of spiritual presence of God, that can be really joyful and wonderful and sublime. It's kind of like falling in love. And beginning that new relationship where you kind of lose your mind a little bit because you're so gaga over the other person. And you get a little giddy, but if you've made it past that stage with a significant other in your life, you know that that initial stage can't last and doesn't really lead to a deep and more mature and abiding kind of love. And if you've stayed in a relationship, you also know that, you know, the dark side starts to come out a little bit. You see the flaws both in yourself and in your partner.

And the same thing happened. As we consent to this deeper relationship with God, and that's why we need this propagation or purification. This is sometimes the most difficult phase of the process. St. JOHN of the cross, classically called this the dark night of the soul. And here is where we start to come face to face with our own imperfections, our sinful habits and patterns, our attachments, our selfishness. But I want to really iterate that this is a necessary and normal part of the journey.

At a deeper theological level, it's helpful to keep in mind when we experienced this dark night of the soul, that here God is working to strip away all that stands between us, and the experience of infinite love. So for most people, this is the longest phase of transformation. There's really no way to know how long or what struggles we might encounter. But the contemplative stance is to accept at all the good, the bad, and the ugly. As part of the process, and to stay faithful to the, to the practice, that daily practice, no matter what is occurring, and no matter where we think God is or is not in the process. And if we stick with this, that third stage is the taste of divine union that again is never completed in this life.

But the Christian tradition strongly upholds that we really can taste this union in this life in this body. This is captured by St. Paul in First Corinthians 13 where he says For now, we see in a mirror dimly, but then we will see face to face that is we will see God face to face. Now I know only in part, then I will know fully even as I have been fully known. Okay, so like I said, this was a little more technical terms and ideas thrown at you, I want to make this practical for you as well. So I've thrown out these foundational concepts of the incarnation, the grace of the Holy Spirit that is offered to humans. And this process of demonization of becoming one with God through mystical union.

So what would be the practical side of really living out of those as faith commandments. And I would suggest that this cultivates a kind of faith, where one trust that God has already acted in history. The Gift has already been offered in the person of Jesus Christ to all of humankind, and that the human spawns response is simply to accept to offer our consent. So in contemplative practice and theology, we do less so that God can do more. Now there's more is captured in the stages of transformation, illumination propagation, Leading to divine union. What are the practical sides of this?

Well, I would suggest, first of all, that illumination is experienced by many as kind of an initial joy or sense of consolation or even deeper insights into ourselves into our understanding of who God is and what God is doing in our lives. And again, this sort of getti falling in love is necessary and good. And it's necessary and good to move into a deeper, more mature kind of faith. That is something like the dark night of the soul. And here I want to emphasize in particular, that some of our images of God that we bring into this process might need to be purified. Even under the best of conditions, it's sort of hard to avoid images of God as an angry, vengeful judge.

And part of what we need to let go here is to let go of those Images of god those false images, and to allow an image of God as merciful, compassionate, forgiving, totally unconditioned and unconditional love in a way that we can't even describe in human language that takes some time to let go of those earlier experiences. I think this is where that dying to self that Jesus speaks about in the gospels takes place. It's a stripping away of all of our selfish desires and pretensions and prejudices. The outcome of this process is a kind of selflessness, a humility, that makes it possible for the divine love to flow in and through us and express itself creatively and in beauty in the world around us. This, of course, leads to that taste of the eternal or eternal life in this body, and it fosters a deeper hope and a deeper faith than we could have ever had in that earlier stage of illumination.

St. JOHN of the cross offers a metaphor of these three stages of the process and he says it's like a log being thrown onto a fire. That initial stage of illumination is where the log kind of on the outer edges starts to inflame and glow. The purification or purgation is when the log and all the moisture and the dirt and the junk in the log has been burned off by the heat of divine love. And the divine union is when the log itself is glowing and emanating that divine love as if it were one or fuse with the flame itself. It's a beautiful metaphor and whenever I hear it, I think of my experiences at the pottery studio at St. John's University, run by Richard bresnahan. And this is a picture of a cup, a clay cup being taken out of the kiln after a firing where it is so infused with the flames.

The Killing that it literally is giving off that love itself. It's a beautiful way of thinking about that process of transformation. I want to leave you with a poem by Rumi, the 13th century, Sufi, mystic and poet. Sufism is a mystical tradition within Islam. And it also captures this idea of being fully infused by the Divine Love, such that, like the flame and the cup or the log, there's just a total union between the two. This is his poem called burnt kebab.

Last year I admired wines. This, I'm wandering inside the red world. Last year I gazed at the fire this year I'm burnt kebab. thirst drove me down to the water where I drank the moon's reflection. Now I'm Elian staring up totally lost in Love with the thing itself. Don't ask questions about longing.

Look into my face. Sold drunk body ruined. These two sit helpless in a wrecked wagon. Neither knows how to fix it. And my heart. I'd say it was more like a donkey sunk in a mud hole.

Struggling admiring deeper. But listen to me. for one moment quit being sad. Here blessings, dropping their blossoms around you. God. Thank you and we'll be back tomorrow for Day eight.

Diving more into the psychological side of this contemplative journey.