“Through contemplative prayer we can keep ourselves from being pulled from one urgent issue to another and from becoming strangers to our own heart and God’s own heart.” (p.42)

I really feel like I should write “‘nuff said” after this and be done with it. But I won’t.

This was entirely convicting for me, because deep, contemplative prayer does not naturally feel like it should be placed in front of “urgent issues”. If I have a project to finish by tomorrow, a lesson plan to organize, and a panicked call from a disciplee, I’m not going to want to sit in my closet for an hour and contemplate Jesus, even if that’s exactly what I should be doing. But as Nouwen says, the costs of not consistently establishing our foundation on God’s perfect love and “the knowledge that we are already free, that we have found a place to dwell, that we already belong to God” are far too great, in that we can lose sight of the truths that we so desperately need as well as the fact that we need them (especially in order to approach said urgent issues, be they day to day challenges or theological disputes, with the right mindset). Personally, I’m going to make an effort not to let myself get lost in the busyness of this year and really take the time to soak in God’s goodness.