In his book Practicing the Way: Be with Jesus. Become like him. Do as he did. John Mark Comer writes about a brief exchange between the priest and the peasant, which exemplifies the core of contemplative prayer.
The retreat leader and spiritual director Marjorie Thompson tells the story of a conversation between an eighteenth-century priest and an elderly peasant who would sit alone for long hours in the quiet of the church. When the priest asked what he was doing, the old man simply replied, ” I look at Him, He looks at me, and we are happy.”
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I will never forget when my spiritual director advised me, “John Mark, sit in your sin and let God love you.” He did not mean “Keep sinning and don’t feel guilty.” He meant ” When you sin [and I will, as you will ], don’t hide it from God. Hold it before God, with no excuses, no blame shifting, no denial, just utter vulnera bility, and let God love you as you are. And then let God love you into who you have the potential to become. But this is a very different kind of prayer than many of us are used to. I grew up praying in a mode that was wordy, fast – paced, and a bit demanding. Prayer, to me, meant asking God for things, mostly good things, but still, the aim was to use a lot of words to ask God for what you needed and desired.
Yet contemplative prayer isn’t looking to get anything from God; it’s just looking at God. “ I look at Him, He looks at me, are happy.”
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So, let us strive to follow the example of the old man. Let us sit in silence, look at God, and let Him look at us. Let us be vulnerable and honest before God, acknowledging our sins and shortcomings and allowing His love to transform us. And in doing so, may we find the same happiness that the old man found in the quiet of the church. “I look at Him, He looks at me, and we are happy.”