The Center for contemplative practice
A Lay Cistercian Looks at Spiritual Reality
THE MORE PROFOUND SPIRITUALITY IS, THE SIMPLER IT BECOMES
That title statement cannot be correct, can it? Think about it! If God is one, an assumption which I hold, then all that is real is contained in The One. There is no two.
As part of my Lectio Divina contemplation, I reflected on this statement. Over the centuries, we have piled up belief upon belief until the sheer objects of our faith are complicated and hardly simple. One of the side effects of this piling on is our difficulty to distinguish what is essential from what is nice but not at the core of our spirituality. As an example, we hold that the Eucharist is the Real Presence of Jesus Christ, but we also hold that we should go to Eucharist every Sunday. One is at the core of my faith and one is a discipline. They are both important but not equal.
Let me get real simple. If you had to point out one sentence in the whole Scriptures that sums up what everything else is about, what would that be? What is the one center that, if you took it away, nothing else would sustain God’s purpose in life for you? God told us what that was. Do you know? Look up Deuteronomy 6 and Matthew 22:34. This is the only thing we must do in our lifetime to be one with The One.
Think about it and I will give you more to look up next time.
“That in all things, God is glorified.” –St. Benedict
The Center for contemplative practice 