Hello, everybody, and welcome back to day 14, the last day of our course. I've used a lot of words, to lead you into this experience of contemplative silence that crucible with Jin wit within which God wishes to transform us into the fullness of that divine image and love that we were created to be. My goal with today's video is to do a little bit of review of the material that we've discussed and explored in the course together, re visit some of those practical tips that we've mentioned throughout and to leave you with some encouragement. So one of my goals in creating this course has been to highlight the contemplative dimension of Christianity, particularly amidst our culture's interest in mindfulness and meditation and contemplative practices right now. So we've explored how mindfulness is like the salt or The foundation of every contemplative practice that entering into the present moment in our body and in our breath, and in our mind, using and cultivating that non judgmental moment to moment awareness is foundational to any contemplative practice.

We talked about how meditation moves into more of those practices that train us to still and focus the mind in order to go deeper into the present moment and into our own awareness of ourselves. And that contemplation is a way of being a way of knowing and a way of engaging with reality and reality here with kind of a capital R with the Divine Presence and entering into that through direct experience in a way that is transformative to us as well. In the Christian tradition, contemplation is of course, most simply summed up as resting in the presence of God. contemplation is a deeply personal and intimate experience. And there are as many doorways into contemplative silence, as there are persons and as there are movements and gifts of the Holy Spirit, which is to say, really, there are an infinite number of ways of entering into the stillness, that this course is designed to introduce you to and invite you into.

And contemplation as it's understood in the Christian tradition, is specifically a gift of the Holy Spirit. And so what that reminds us is that it's not something that we need to earn, nor is it something that we can or need to control, but rather, the heart and core of the contemplative experience and the Christian tradition, is the saying yes to God, saying yes to whatever is arising in our experience, and saying yes to God. The model here in the Christian tradition that's often held up is married. And her saying yes to God through the angel Gabriel. And her response is, let it be done unto me according to your word. Another goal that I've had in this course is to introduce you to some of the classic mistakes and contemplatives, who have written about and handed down their own teaching and practices, as well as to explore some of the people today who are continuing to live out and teach and be a vessel for that tradition.

So we've looked at some of the classic methods, noting before, that there are really an infinite number of doorways into the contemplative silence and divine presence in that silence, while also noting that certain methods have been kind of tried and true and developed and found very helpful for helping us to step into that experience. Some of those that we've looked at, we looked in particular at how contemplative prayer in the Christian tradition is deeply rooted in the encounter. With scripture, or even more specifically the way that God is mediated through the encounter with Scripture in the word. And we looked at how practices like lectio Divina, developed in the desert tradition with the mothers and fathers, in the monastic tradition, and how many people today outside of the monastic tradition are continuing to benefit from that. And how that last moment of luxio of contemplation is that movement from word into silence.

So following that method, or that that movement, other practices that we've explored, are things like centering prayer, where you every time you notice your thoughts, you return to gently repeating a sacred word, to bring yourself back to the present moment and to say, yes, there's the practices of Christian meditation that use the mantra, usually Maranatha that is repeated slowly but continuously throughout one's practice. And then Maranatha means come Holy Spirit. We've looked at the Jesus prayer, which is a practice in the Eastern Orthodox churches. The repetition of Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God have mercy on me, or the the shorter version of just Jesus on the in breath and mercy on the exhale. We looked at john cash ins recommendation of repeating the line from Psalm 69, which is, oh God come to my assistance, oh Lord, my case to help me. We also explored how some people will use simply returning to the breath.

Or recently I heard a person at a workshop talked about having an image of a place of beauty that that was really stuck in her memory as her way of just coming back to the present of saying yes, and of entering into that silence. I've also talked about how this can be part of what our more traditional defense methods. So things like praying the rosary, or Eucharistic Adoration and lots of other practices, and then it fits into liturgy and enriches our experience of worship as well. And it can be something as simple as just being out here in nature and being aware of God's presence in that as well. Throughout the course, I've also tried to come back to some really practical tips to make it simple for you to think about how to incorporate these practices into daily life. And I want to revisit a few of those because I think they're helpful to keep in mind so it doesn't feel quite so daunting.

I always think it's a it's very helpful to start with thinking about a space where you can practice and it doesn't have to be anything expensive or elaborate. But if there's a corner of your bedroom or an office, if you have a you know, if you're lucky enough to have a prayer room or space, something like that in your home, but not everybody has that space available. For me. I have just a comfy Reading chair in the corner of my office and it's just far enough away from my computer and my phone that I'm not going to pick it up to, to do my email or check for a message or something like that. It's also helpful, I think, to set an intention around a time or times of day that work really well. I know for me, it's important to practice early in the morning before I really get started with my day, talking with a friend of mine recently who had just started a sitting meditation practice each morning and she was saying that one of the first things she noticed was that she actually felt like she had more time throughout the day.

And as we talked about that, I think it has to do with not just kind of jumping out of bed and like running into everything that we have to do. But when we slow ourselves down at the beginning, it can actually feel like the rest of the day has a little bit more space a little bit more time in it. Most of the teachers in the in the traditions I've talked about kind of recommend 20 minutes, twice a day. Once in the morning and once, sometime in the late afternoon or evening. And that's a great goal. But I myself admit that amidst career and family, and things like that, I hardly ever get those to 20 minutes it's in.

And I've mentioned this throughout. And I think that's one of the most important things in this course, is that short, regular practice is the most effective, though I hesitate to use that word with with reference to the effects of grace, but certainly with the physical, and the reminders, the benefits that come from it, even if it's just two minutes that you set aside, that can have a profound effect. And it's better to do that than to wait until you have that 20 minutes or you have that time to go off on a retreat. Those times are few and far between for most of us, so it's better to look for short moments. Maybe it's, it's a couple minutes right before you know opening your Office Store after lunch or whatever the case might be. The only thing that I've found is that if My contemplative practice is like another thing on my to do list that it starts to feel like a burden.

But when it's really incorporated into a regular practice, it's not, it's not kind of another thing on the list, like getting a workout at the gym or something like that, or checking my email. But it really becomes the foundation, from which my energy and my life flows being connected to the Divine Presence, being more creative, being a little bit more relaxed, a little bit more open to the ebb and flow of my day, and the surprises that God might have for me throughout the day. So again, creating a space, sending some intention around time, times when you want to practice and aiming for short, regular practice, rather than thinking about that big marathon, you know, meditation session that you want to have sometime in the future. Those are the three that I would mention and come back to, and we'll be a space for you to actually write some of those and share those intentions.

On the discussion board for today, if you like, on another practical level, when you finish the course, there'll be an opportunity to leave a review. And if you enjoyed the course I appreciate you sharing that with others. You can also contact me my email is available on the contemplative view comm website. It's contemplative dash you calm and you can leave me feedback. I am hoping to create some other courses in the future. It might take me a while, perhaps courses around the role of contemplative prayer within 12 step recovery and spirituality and some other ideas that I have.

So check back in if you are interested in more. And I also just appreciate your help spreading the word either by If you enjoyed the course by word of mouth, or on social media or other places like that. At a retreat I was giving a while back, somebody said to me, we were exploring these practices together. Some of the theology behind it and he said, you know what you're doing? Well, in this, he said, You're really taking God out of the box. And I think that's a really helpful way of thinking about the content entering into this contemplative silence.

The God who is revealed in the scriptures and in the person of Jesus Christ is a God of mysteries and surprises. And it's human nature to want to put that in a box. And too often religion is presented as a confining or a narrow inbox. But the heart of Christianity and of all the great spiritual and religious traditions of the world are an encounter with mystery that explodes out of the boxes that we try to put them in. And so, silence creates the space and the freedom for that divine explosion to kind of take over. I mentioned earlier in an earlier lesson, the quote from the Theologian Karl rahner, who said that the future Christian will either be a mystic Once someone who has experienced something, or he or she will be nothing at all.

And I really believe that the contemplative dimension of Christianity, although it and nothing holds the key to everything, nothing except trust and divine grace, and there's no magic bullet, I really think it holds the key to a opening future of what faith can be in the world. So it's a way of practicing humility and hospitality to others, while remaining deeply rooted in our faith in Jesus Christ. And doing that, amidst a world that is becoming increasingly divided and angry and violent. It's a way of opening towards that solidarity and love for all people, regardless of their background or tradition, and for all of creation as well. We've explored a little bit the healing that that people have experienced and talked about in their contemplative journey. And it's worth remembering that that healing is not only for us as individual practitioners, but it's for the entire world.

It's for the good of all that we bring that healing and divine light into the world simply by our being. And in a tradition that Follows the Person of Jesus Christ, whose very life culminated in a violent death on the cross, followed by a resurrection. The Christian contemplative tradition reminds us that the way to that healing for us and for the world is not around suffering, to go avoid it or go around it, but rather into and through the suffering, trusting in divine grace and allowing that grace to bring us out on the other side. So I encourage you in your practice, to enjoy whatever piece and constellation and illumination might come in the practice, but also to remain faithful and steadfast in your practice, amidst the dark night and challenges that can arise. I want to leave you with words that are paraphrase from the anonymous author of the one of the classic texts in the contemplative tradition, from the 14th century called the Cloud of Unknowing.

Like many of these texts, it's actually written for young, aspiring contemplatives in his community. And he goes through and encourages them to experiment with and find a practice that works for them. And that's what I've done here as well. I've offered you different kinds of practice, and I hope you're finding one that works for you or maybe even still exploring that. And then he says, once you've found that he says, with this practice, beat upon this Cloud of Unknowing, and this great darkness above you. So whatever practice you've picked up, let that practice.

Be your portal into that divine silence of healing transformation. And grace. Your next step into silence begins now and where it takes you is up to God to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and your willingness to say yes