Escaping the Noise (Contemplation Part 5 of 10) with John Crowder - The Jesus Trip

[Music] [Music] here we are again part five of 10 in our series on contemplation and again just to remind you this series is only giving you Snippets from our much longer fulllength extended ecourse on contemplation sacred mystery a course on contemplation which is 20 hours long so if you want to take the full plunge you can find it at john. net and I promise it is transformative now this week I'm going to reemphasize the grace of this practice then start easing into our first pragmatic tools which is mainly to actually sit down and do it contemplation is the vital subjective experience of an objective gospel reality it helps us to perceive all of life as Divine experience now ultimately all of Christian mysticism is summed up in contemplation which is simply another word for the practice of the presence of God and this practice is not getting or acquiring God's presence but rather living in an intimate awareness of it similarly Faith itself is the participatory realization of your union with Christ not a transactional thing you drum up to get it contemplation is merely relationship the gospel is the constitutive agency of our Union with God contemplation mediates that Union not as an abstraction to the person and work of Jesus but it is the mode of our participation in that unbreakable union now I know the word mediate can trigger us and therefore I used it intentionally look preaching scripture reading communion baptism the love of a friend these all mediate gospel truth to us in a sacramental way how would we experience the gospel without these things not in a sense of replacing the mediator Jesus but tangible Graces in declaring him to us see again modern evangelicals with their logic chopping they don't even know what sacraments are they don't even know what that word means the Greek means Mysteries okay I got a three-part video series on Sacrament as well I don't care if you get it I just don't have time to explain it right now okay of course anything can be viewed in a transactional non-sp way that reinforces the LIE of Separation The Lord's table for instance is not a magic pill you that get you into Jesus it's a sacramental declaration that the whole Cosmos is United to him so contemplation is not a goete method it's a mode of recognizing what is contempla of prayer is participation in the life of the Trinity participation is not applying the work of Christ appropriating the work of Christ or any other word that entails helping Jesus finish his unfinished business participation does imply interaction exchange interplay relationship communication partaking or even synergizing you know that's a Greek word that clunkily gets translated as collabor in most English Bibles contemplation is the Simplicity of engaging in the relational Adoration of father son and spirit extremely profound it is the partaking of the glory of the Triune God shared together from before the foundation of the world now as full shareholders in all that God is unfortunately prayer itself has become a manufactured abstraction from that relationship as something you do a contractual execution of Duty Thomas Merton says this he says basically prayer should be as simple as breathing as simple as living but when we make a great issue out of prayer it tends to become confusing it tends to get distorted it becomes a cause the great cause of prayer and then it becomes opposed to something else which is not prayer you get into this break prayer is something sacred and other things are secular and you have to keep them apart and that's a confusion he says as breathing is neither sacred nor secular you just breathe so prayer to should be neither sacred nor secular I do not regard prayer as a specifically sacred activity it is life it is our life it comes from the very ground of our life I think it becomes a sacred activity when it gets to become quite public and formal and so forth but we should not divide prayer against the rest of our life and we should not make prayer a cause for which we are willing to fight and have Crusades so to speak okay so I am not dependent on my own prayers therefore I can truly pray with freedom we only are participants in Jesus's perfect Divine human intercession to the father as scripture tells us the spirit helps us in our weakness we do not know how to pray as we ought but the spirit himself intercedes for us with groans and words words cannot express so even when you are utterly confused about the things of God or your present situation in life you can rest assured he interprets your desires your groans your longings despite that you don't know how to pray I'm always hesitant to give pragmatic tools because folks are so prone to view this stuff as mechanical and so I'm going to hammer this home all the more later in the series and I don't mean to sound patronizing but start with a chair okay that's right you listen to this whole thing so far for me to tell you sit in a chair and be quiet but seriously if you're prayer life consists of just lying in bed when you wake up in the morning let's be brutally honest with ourselves that doesn't work all right if you lie in bed you fall asleep as a teenager in the late '90s after the Toronto renewal blow was blown through I mastered this art of acting like I was laying on the floor soaking during my pastor's sermons and I could even fall asleep with my hands in the air uh resting on the elbows but sometimes the snoring would give me away and hey guys sleep is beautiful uh when I was with the monks on Mount Athos I actually wanted to wake up all night for the entrancing prayers and liturgies it was like IH hop except with God but on the flip side don't bother kneeling or doing some uncomfortable thing like that because the whole time you're just going to be thinking about how uncomfortable you are so get a chair not a big lazy boy you're going to fall asleep in but get out of bed make a coffee okay my number one piece of advice when you first wake up is not to grab that godforsaken phone allowing your barely waking mind to be inundated with News about Donald Trump and CNN and everybody's agendas and erasable arguments all of which is going to frame your outlook for the day and dictate your mood when you haven't even woken up yet so let the beginning of your day be a time for centering depending on your living situation you may need to rise a little earlier or stay up a little later than other people it'll be different for everyone but start small if you need to five 15 minutes I'd shoot for 20 or 30 minutes in the morning and some also like to do another 30 minutes before bed find a time stick with it I personally just give it a long stretch in the morning uh but sometimes a brief pause in the middle of the day can be very replenishing to recalibrate but consistency is important so do get yourself into a habit some days you sit there and nothing happens hey that's great at least you sat down you never know what's going on under the surface you sit down one day your head's a jumble sit down the next day and you're just soaring okay we never know how Holy Spirit may be working out some subconscious stuff now I do not set a clock you may need to for work or whatever but with clocks the problem is you're always looking at at you're on edge you know the alarm's going to sound at some point I have a little stash of prayer candles and I know about how far 30 or 40 minute uh burn goes so uh don't light your house on fire for me that's just more of a meditative way to keep time that's not important okay the main thing is that you do find a way to carve out time however you choose to market now I've spent years um without and with consistent quiet time okay life travel kids work happens right I've appreciated the spirit-led spontaneity the awareness of my constant Union I'm not depending on a prayer time with God so I don't sit down every day out of a legalism but out of an addiction and and it becomes a necessity to function because without habit I tend to forget silence until I find myself in an exhausted confused mess okay so carving out space is very important so that you have real Solitude I mean that's our main lesson I'll get to because that is really the starting point for this whole thing you can't really untether from the world if you're sitting in your living room while your spouse is vacuuming and the kids are watching TV now this part may be new for you okay we aren't playing worship songs not reading a devotional book nothing wrong with that worship songs could be beautiful uh that is called meditation you're reflecting on something discursively your mind is ruminating on the lyrics or whatever and it's framing up thoughts for you it's like the apps where people read meditations of scripture with music if you love those if you love worship music make space in your day for that contemplation is different contemplation by definition is not thinking about God it's letting go of mental preoccupation being with him and having rest from our thoughts even our highest theological thoughts have sewings and it's funny how often people get confused at this point they're like wait you're talking about actual silence yes now I do often play ambient chants or some Coral music lightly in the background but only in Russian or Latin or whatever nothing in English or a language that that's going to get me distracted with the words okay just something ambient may help so you're not thrown off by that vacuum cleaner in the other room also I am not trying to work myself into some altered state so the music is not for some kind of hypnosis effect um now don't replace your Bible reading or whatever existing devotional activity you're currently benefiting from we're not looking to replace your other study time in fact you may start to find your time with those books growing deeper growing richer but this is not reading time this is wordless silence nevertheless you may want to start your practice with a couple short bible verses when you first sit down this is a very helpful launching pad okay and I'll get into this in session s when we discuss letio deina Divine reading which is different from regular Bible study it's more of a tool to help you enter into silence now I personally pray with icons you know what that may not be your tradition I enjoy it if my mind wanders they're beautiful visual reminders of who I'm sitting here with now I did not say I pray two icons nobody does that that is a Protestant myth to demonize what they don't understand I mean worshiping with smoke machines and electric guitars that's fine but worshiping with icons that's idolatry now come on let's grow up I could care less if you use them or not I'm not selling them online it's not a superstitious or ritualistic thing for me but having a Sacred Space a prayer closet of sorts is extremely beneficial even better if it has some aesthetic Beauty's inspiring and simple can be beautiful I just find Icons more inspiring than a live laugh love sign from Cracker Barrel but carving out space where you can have actual Solitude that's what I'm getting at okay you don't need a shrine with candles and chants and icons if that's not your thing I'm personally drawn to that atmosphere of the ancient tradition so I like that stuff my wife she likes to go outside she's a nature person her spirit Soares when she's in the woods with a sunset but cultivating silence definitely means finding time space uh and silence many of you will still initially find much more connection with your regular worship music if that's something you do and you know what that is perfectly normal and okay and I'm not minimizing that okay ease into this don't make hard work of it we're so accustomed to thinking silence is absence that it takes time to acclimate if you're just getting started don't worry too much about the details I mean some folks uh get anal retentive about breathing exercises or how to place your hands or whatever and we don't focus on tools tools are just there to help us focus on him for instance some people close their eyes to shut out distractions others keep them slightly cracked open so they don't fall asleep all right don't overanalyze too much again this is a relationship not methodology you aren't earning anything don't force yourself we aren't forcing out thoughts battling them we're having a calm disposition and just learning to let go of thoughts let them coast along on that sushi belt without digging into them and pondering over them you're giving yourself permission for a while not to have to think through and solve every problem that comes to mind so if I find myself obsessing I'm like you know what this is not the time for that that's for later this is my daily vacation this is my sabatical from analysis a very helpful tool we will talk about in our next session is to have a simple prayer word Jesus that you faintly whisper as you start to find your mind wandering completely off into left field so I'm I'm just giving suggestions but the main three things are for today actual space actual silence actually doing it CS Lewis says we live in fact in a world starved for Solitude silence and privacy and therefore starved for meditation and true friendship this is not just interior Solitude as a concept but finding some type of geographic corner to actually pull away all right we aren't being alone we're being alone with God but a corner a room a closet a garage where we can actually pull away and on this note I would like to close out today's session with a lengthy but inspiring quote on this very thing from Thomas Merton here we go and this is from new seeds of contemplation he says physical solitude exterior silence and real recollection are all morally necessary for anyone who wants to lead a contemplative life but like everything else in creation they are nothing more than means to an end and if we do not understand the end we will make a wrong use of the means we do not go into the desert to escape people but to learn how to find them we do not leave them in order to have nothing more to do with them but to find out the way to do them the most good but this is only a a secondary end the one end that includes all others is the love of God how can people act and speak as if Solitude were a matter of no importance to the interior life only those who have never experienced real Solitude can glibly declare that it makes no difference and that only Solitude of the heart really matters one Solitude must lead to the other however the true is Solitude is not something outside you not an absence of men or of sound around you it is an abyss opening up in the center of your own soul and this abyss of interior Solitude is a hunger that will never be satisfied with any created thing the only way to find Solitude is by hunger and thirst and sorrow and poverty and desire and the one who has found Solitude as empty as if he had been emptied by death he has advanced beyond all Horizons there are no directions left in which he can travel this is a country whose Center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere you do not find it by traveling but by standing still yet it is in this loneliness that the deepest activities begin it is here that you discover Act without motion labor that is profound Repose Vision in obscurity and beyond all desire a fulfillment whose limits extend to Infinity although it is true that this Solitude is everywhere there is a mechanism for finding it that has some reference to actual space to geography and physical isolation from the towns and the cities of people there should be at least a room or some corner where no one will find you and disturb you or notice you you should be able to untether yourself from the world and set yourself free losing all the fine strings and strands of tension that bind You by sight by Sound by thought to the presence of other people but thou and thou shalt pray enter into thy chamber and having shut the door pray to thy father in secret once you have found such a place be content with it do not be disturbed if good reason takes you out out of it love it and return to it as soon as you can and not be too quick to change it for another you know meron says sometimes you're going to get routed from your quiet time don't despise this don't get mad at people but find a place where you can pull away he continues a place in which you can breathe naturally quietly and not have to take your breath in continuous short gas a place where your mind can be idle forget its concerns descend into silence and worship the sacred and SE secret there can be no contemplation where there is no secret we have said that the Solitude that is important to a contemplative is above all an interior and spiritual thing we have admitted that it is possible to live in deep and peaceful interior Solitude even in the midst of the world and its confusion but this truth is sometimes abused in religion there are people dedicated to God whose lives are full of restlessness and they have no real desire to be alone they admit that exterior solitude is good in theory but they insist it is far better to preserve interior Solitude while living in the midst of others in practice their lives are devoured by activities and strangled with attachments interior Solitude is impossible for them they fear it they do everything they can to escape it what is worse they try to draw everyone else into activities as senseless and devouring as their own they're great promotors of useless work they love to organize meetings and banquets and conferences and lectures they print Circ write letters talk for hours on the telephone that they might gather a hundred people together in a large room where they'll fill the air with smoke and make a great deal of noise and Roar at one another and clap their hands and stagger home at last patting one another on the back with the assurance that they have all done great things to spread the kingdom of God you will never find interior Solitude unless you make some conscious effort to deliver yourself from the desires and the cares and the attachments of an existence in time and in the world do everything you can to avoid the noise and business of people keep as far away as you can from where they gather cheat and insult one another to exploit one another to laugh at one another to mock one another with their false gestures of friendship be glad if you can keep beyond the reach of their radios do not bother with their unearthly songs do not read their advertisements the contemplative life certainly does not demand a self-righteous contempt for the habits and diversions of Ordinary People but nevertheless no one who seeks Liberation in light and solitude no one who speak seeks spiritual Freedom can afford to yield passively to all the appeals of a society of salesmen advertisers and consumers keep your eyes clean and your ears quiet your mind Serene breathe God's air work if you can under the sky but if you have to live in a city and work among machines and ride in subways and eat in a place where the radio makes you deaf with spe ious news and food destroys your life and the sentiments of those around you poison your heart with boredom do not be impatient but accept it as the love of God and as a seed of solitude planted in your soul if you're appalled by those things you'll keep your appetite for the healing Silence of recollection but meanwhile keep your sense of compassion for the people who have forgotten the very concept of solitude you at least know it exists and that it is the source of peace and joy you can still have hope for such Joy they do not even hope for it anymore so finding a place guys it it is part of contemplation because there there is a necessary letting go there is a sense of renunciation of things for a moment just to be saturated in him so that we are actually connecting with him in others all around us he says perfect renunciation establishes one in a state of spirit spiritual Solitude peace tranquility Clarity gentleness and joy in which one is fully disposed for meditation and contemplative prayer there is no true Solitude except interior Solitude and interior Solitude is not possible for anyone who does not accept their right place in relation to others there is no true peace possible for one who's still imagins that some accident or Talent of Grace or virtue segregates them from other people and place them above them Solitude is not separation beautiful guys the contemplative journey is not a path of becoming it is a path of realization of what we've already become in him it is Awakening to a transformation that has already taken place our journey is one of discovering the true self and this is but a byproduct of something much greater the real discovery of Christ in us the only means by which which we would ever know ourselves anyway self-discovery in itself is Vanity a chasing after the wind what self he is your life I have been co- crucified with Christ and I no longer live but Christ lives in me Galatians 2:20 Beyond Simple the gospel is an absolutely effortless unveiling of the truth of the godhead in you we are not arriving into him but realizing he arrived into us this is the DrStic difference between a process of frustration in a process of never ending Wonder we've got some fun in-person Gatherings coming to a region near you in 2024 so before you go let me tell you where I'm headed I'll be in Albuquerque New Mexico in August I'll be in New England coming to Massachusetts in October in November I'll be with DrC Baxter Krueger in Germany as well as in Switzerland and I'll be in Middle America in Ohio in December check it out John crowder. edu [Music] [Music] main site John crow.

where you can find upcoming events like this ministry cruise to Alaska September 2024 with myself and DrC bter Krueger you'll find our extended ond demand ecourses like this 20 hour module on christology we've also got 20 hours just on contemplation a really fun one drunk church history it's about 30 hours long and our most recent on the Book of Revelation that will change everything you thought about the apocalypse so visit the page and you'll see we also have our longest ecourse to date coming up live this summer 2024 with myself DrBaxter Krueger Rod Williams we're spending three whole months on Holy Spirit and for those taking the online course at the end of those 12 weeks we will have an optional in-person activation gathering in Florida that is absolutely going to explode find every at John [Music] crow. Plunge Into the Depths of the gospel of grace and sign up for Kaa new wine Seminary explore the heart of the Trinity the ancient Faith the finished work of the Cross It's Supernatural and presence oriented the online format makes it an extremely affordable theology course and it's a rare opportunity to drink from some amazing teachers once a week catch the early bird discount rate at ka. Holy Spirit is often referred as the third person of the Trinity but is the Trinity a hierarchy is Holy Spirit truly God in a recent poll among 3,000 evangelicals the majority believed holy spirit is a force not a person yet the early church adamantly declared that Holy Spirit is the Lord The Giver of Life who spoke by the prophets and who is worshiped and adored together with father and the son many charismatics though open to the spirit's interaction likewise think of Holy Spirit as a power or energy which comes in degrees holy spirit doesn't come in portions Holy Spirit comes in person what does it mean that Holy Spirit has already been poured out on All Flesh holy spirit is hovering over Humanity pointing us to Christ who reveals the father for a truly trinitarian grasp of holy spirit that is both theological and deeply experiential we would like to invite you this summer for a 3-month extended online ecourse with myself John Crowder together with cter Krueger and Rod Williams exploring the often neglected person of the godhead Holy Spirit each week we'll gather online for live interactive discussions with students and participants June through August 2024 live sessions are time zone friendly for the USA the UK and Europe at the end of the course we will cap it off with an optional inperson gathering on the Emerald Coast of Florida with Warren Sylvester leading worship holy spirit is a Illuminating and making the reality of our Union with God known to us in super abounding Wonder after 12 weeks of deep teaching on Holy Spirit this inperson Gathering is about tangible impartation as we come together to experience a deeper Divine reality than words can express find out more about the course as well as the impartation weekend and take advantage of the early bird discount at John crow.