God’s presence is constant and the only way we could experience Him is by getting our mind and our thinking out of the way. This is the objective of meditation, of contemplation.
In the early stages of contemplation, however, all our usual patterns assault us. Our patterns of control, addiction, negativity, tension, anger, and fear assert themselves. Yes, the truth will set you free, but first, it will make you miserable. When Jesus was “driven” by the Spirit into the wilderness, the first things that show up are “wild beasts” (Mark 1:13).
The key is to simply let the thoughts and feelings be. We have to become the watcher, where we step back from those things and observe them without judgment. We can imagine sitting on the bank of a river, observing each of your thoughts coming along, admitting that we’re having them, then placing them on a boat and letting them go down the river. The river is our stream of consciousness.
Most people think they are their thinking. They do not have a clue who they are apart from their thoughts. What we do in contemplation is move to a level beneath our thoughts, the level of pure consciousness.
God wants us to know Him and the magnificence of being in His presence, and the only way is as He told us – to be still.
Psalm 16:11 “You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.”
