Joan Chittister: Immersion in the God Who Created the World for Us

Contemplation is not for its own sake. To live a contemplative life, to be spiritual, does not mean that we spend life in some kind of sacred spa designed to save us from having to deal with the down and dirty parts of life. The contemplative life is not spiritual escapism. Contemplation is immersion in the God who created the world for all of us.

The mystics of every major religious tradition remind us of that always:

“Within the cave of the heart, God dwells,” Hinduism tells us.

“ Buddha is omnipresent, in all places, in all beings, in all things, in all lands,” the Buddhist master says.

“Where can I go to flee from your presence?” the Jewish psalmist prays.

“Withersoever you turn, there is the Face of God,” Islam teaches.

And Christianity reminds us always, “Ever since the creation of the world, God’s invisible nature has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made.”

Read full reflection in From Contemplation to Justice
(30 Minutes Chicago Sunday Evening Club)