Don’t Settle On Being A Spectator, Enter In
As with all spiritual practices, it’s easy to get caught up in working the forms and getting it right while totally missing out on the point of entering in.
Simply put, The whole purpose of any spiritual practice is to get our ego out of the way, so that we might enter into the presence of the Eternal One.
Contact High Is A Spectator Sport
For instance, don’t mistake the contact high of contemporary worship for the real thing. We all worship outside God’s presence. We are always pointing to Jesus, and quoting Scriptures at God. But don’t stop there. It’s the difference between form and substance, but take note: your Form may be intellectual, or emotional, it may be corporate or solitary, Form is Form, Liturgy is Form. Centering Prayer is Form. Form is good when it directs us to Substance, so don’t stop with Form.
But one thing is certain, all our forms fall away as we enter in.
At the beginning of the Jesus Movement John Michael Talbot released the first Contemporary Worship album: Come Into The Quiet. He had discovered the quiet, the stillness soaked in the presence of God, that all worship can lead us into.
It’s sort of like the three sections of the Temple: The Outer Courts, The Inner Courts, (or The Holy Place), and finally, The Holy of Holies, through the veil. This is what we’re doing in Centering Prayer. We come into our prayer closet (the outer courts). We close the door, (the inner courts, the holy place) and we cross over in prayer into the presence of God. (the Holy of Holies)
So don’t settle for crumbs when the feast awaits you. Drop the ego and enter in.