Reinhard Körner OCD
Two "basic laws" of spiritual life.
Perhaps the most important "basic law" of spiritual life is this: Love transforms. I become like what I love. Angelus Silesius wrote: “Human, what you love, that you will become. You become God if you love God – and you become earth if you love the earth.” Thus, to be transformed into God, we must love God. But it seems that spiritual teachers aimed too high here. How can I love God so sincerely and seriously that I become like Him?
The second equally basic "law" in spiritual life states: I can only love what I know. Can I really know God?
A likeness of the cross from the 14th century, the "mystic's cross" in Neumünster near Würzburg, illustrates the answer of spiritual teachers: Christ here – in art perhaps uniquely – has freed His arms from the cross, lovingly embracing something and drawing it to Himself, being careful not to hurt it… The image wants to convey that in His loving desire for humanity, God reaches out to us, comes to us to draw us to Himself and draw us into His filial relationship with the Father. “God became man so that man could become God,” formulated Augustine. He became accessible to us in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Now I can know God. From one real human being, I can’t find out what kind of heart God has and what His “nature” is. According to the experience and teachings of spiritual teachers, spiritual life consists of recognizing Jesus Christ, learning to love Him more and more, so that He can transform my nature to His nature. I am to become a “second Christ,” says Paul (cf. Gal 4:19). To begin a spiritual life, one only needs a little curiosity: Who is this man who says He is the Son of God, and in whom people of all generations have found their meaning in life? The spiritually alive person is one who encounters Jesus Christ, and as Edith Stein says, begins to study the “science of the cross”.
“Jesus” and “Christ”
In scholarly theological language, a distinction is sometimes made between “Jesus” and “Christ.” It always refers to one and the same Jesus Christ. But for clarity's sake, theologians in many publications speak of “Christ” when referring to the resurrection of the Lord, who lives and is present now, and use the name “Jesus” when discussing history and the earthly life of Jesus of Nazareth. This distinction can also help us in our further reflections. Because in the practice of faith, it is important to keep in mind Jesus Christ as both “Jesus” and “Christ.” It affects not only the clarity of theological language but also, in this case, the “clarity” of our life.
To live spiritually means to live with Christ, who rose from the dead and is now present. If I only looked at Jesus of Nazareth, my faith would still be dead. Jesus would then perhaps be for me an example, an impressive personality from the Bible, or more or less an intelligible element of my religious worldview. Only when I can say to Him “You,” when He truly emerges from my own heart as my “You,” and when He ceases to be just a name or a biblical figure, does faith become “a serious case” (H.U. von Balthasar). Just as among people, only when we can say (“to someone”) “you” do we move from self-centeredness to encounter, so in relation to Jesus Christ, using the word “You” transcends mere life with Christian “conviction” and reaches life with the Lord. In spiritual life, I take seriously that He lives and hears me. When I pray to Him and try to experience my day with Him, I realize that He is a living person, as real and as genuine as a human partner.
But I must also pay attention to Jesus, who became man in Bethlehem, grew up in Nazareth, walked through Galilee, died on the cross in Jerusalem, and allowed His disciples to experience His resurrection. Otherwise, I risk worshipping a false image, a modified Christ, or completely confusing Him with my dreams and pious feelings. I can only read who Christ is, to whom I pray, from the biblical Jesus. I need Jesus to see to whom I pray and entrust my life. Even more: This Jesus of Nazareth is the only one through whom I can experience who God truly is. He is the only authentic “image of God”: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). In Him, God becomes an objective reality of my life; without Him, I easily succumb to subjective notions that may distort my life and turn me into a caricature of a true spiritual person. Hildegard of Bingen hinted at the significance of the incarnate Jesus for our relationship with God with one of her images: Two circles, painted in precious colors, gold and silver, represent God the Father and the Holy Spirit, who are inaccessible to our earthly understanding. In the middle comes the figure of the Man, Jesus, who brings us the message of the Triune God… – Whether Benedict or Francis, Ignatius or Teresa of Avila – teachers of spiritual life continually point to this figure of the man in the middle. I must set before my eyes scenes from Jesus' earthly life and empathize with how Jesus thinks, how He perceives, what He loves and what He despises (what He rejects), how He interacts with people, how He heals and admonishes, how He weeps and brings joy, how He fulfills the Father's will, how He prays, how He is tempted, how He is patient, how on the cross He entrusts His life to the Father, how after the resurrection He meets with His disciples… Only then will I begin to sense who is close to me when the closeness of God touches me within; only then do I know to whom I am speaking in the darkness of faith…
The more I strive to know the Lord as Jesus, the more easily I learn to love Him as Christ. Jesus of Nazareth – that is the Christ with whom I live today. And Christ, to whom I pray – that is Jesus of Galilee, of whom the gospels testify. He still thinks and loves today just as He did then.
Meditation – Contemplation – Action
In this context, the terms "meditation" – "contemplation" – "action" can be well explained. We encounter them very often in writings on spiritual life.
Meditation is a word that has many meanings in modern religious literature. In the spiritual tradition of the Church, it refers to thinking and reflecting on truths of faith, particularly on the life and words of the incarnate Jesus.
“Meditari” means in Latin something like “to take to the center”. Looking at Jesus in the gospels, allowing His life and words to enter into me, placing them in the center of my heart, putting them at the center of my life – that is meditation. Exercises that release tension or concentrate body and spirit, which today are also referred to as “meditation,” can be helpful, they can prepare for pondering the truths of faith or enable their deepening, but they do not lead to the God of revelation by themselves.
Meditation in its proper sense does not depend on gathering wise thoughts. Much more, it seeks to listen to the question: Who are you, Lord? “The goal of contemplating (meditating) on divine things is to gain some knowledge and love of God,” writes John of the Cross.
In monasteries and spiritual communities, specific times during the day are dedicated to meditation. This does not mean that meditation can only be done at these designated times with the Holy Scriptures in hand. It has great value to immerse oneself more and more in this way into the life of Jesus – to let the thought from last Sunday’s sermon resonate within oneself, to set in the middle of the day some of the Lord’s words that have stuck in our minds. This is possible even while working, on the bus ride to work.
Meditation that engages with Jesus of Nazareth serves to know Christ, the Lord who lives today – it is aimed at contemplation. Christian teachers understand it as a friendly, lively interaction with Christ, a life in conscious connection with the risen Lord.
Unfortunately, developments of the last centuries have led many to believe that contemplation is primarily a matter of orders, or at least “contemplative orders”.
Naturally, anyone can shape their life with Christ, establish friendship with Him, and based on that friendship fulfill their vocation, carry out their tasks in the family, in the Church, and in the world. Our “action,” our engagement, will then be more thoughtful, our words deeper, our life more sensitive, our courage bolder, our charity and pastoral care more credible, our hands will be more healing.
Translated by Sr. Terezie Brichtová O.P.
from the magazine "Karmelimpuls" 1992 p. 16
