Week 1 | Contemplation: A Long, Loving Look at God

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15)

Jesus lived in the gaze of God. All His thoughts, feelings, and actions were experienced in the awareness of His Father’s presence. This is why the writer of Hebrews could say: “… yet without sin.” Even so, Jesus understands being tempted away from God. In His humanity, He had to nurture His connection with the Father. Jesus had to live with contemplative, prayerful rhythms that sustained Him.

As we follow the contemplative path of Jesus, we begin with a turn toward the gaze of God. This is why Jesus’ first teachings as He began His ministry centered on this invitation:

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. (Matt 4:17)

Repent! How does that word strike you? For many of us, it is a concept fraught with mixed emotions. When we hear that word, we may think of a fiery preacher telling us to change our behavior or we’ll go to hell. Or, it may conjure up feelings of ourselves or others being ostracized from community. It is unfortunate that the word “repent” has been used as a weapon of shame and condemnation when the reality is that it is one of the most beautiful words in the Biblical text.

Most often, we sense that repentance means to stop doing something and to feel bad about it. However, this is not how the word was used by Jesus and the biblical writers. 

In the Gospels and throughout the New Testament writings, repent is the Greek word metanoia. The prefix meta means change, and noia is the mind. It is most often used to refer to a change of mind, or thinking. The picture painted is of turning toward something. Of course, this involves turning away from something, but it is primarily about turning toward – turning toward God. To metanoia is to move our awareness of anything other than God, back to God. And rather than our “turn” being rooted in the perception that God is angry with us, Romans 2:4 expresses that “God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance.”

We begin with the word repent because it is where Jesus began, and as we seek to live in the gaze of God, it always involves a turning. In fact, it involves turn after turn. Whenever we discover that our awareness is elsewhere, we return. 

Meister Eckhart wrote that “to repent is to turn away from all that is not God.”

Jesus invites us to turn because “the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” His kingdom is His presence right here and right now. To turn toward His presence is the first act of a contemplative life. From there, we begin to inhabit the rhythms that sustained and nurtured Jesus in the awareness of God’s presence. 

Writer and teacher Cynthia Bourgeault comments: “The whole mission of Jesus can fundamentally be seen as trying to push, tease, shock, and wheedle people beyond their egoic operating systems into metanoia …” By egoic operating systems, she means that we have default reactions to the world around us to keep us safe, seen, and secure. As we turn toward God, we open ourselves to Him. We are turning away from ourselves in order to receive His gaze.

Take a few moments and turn your heart and mind toward God and His presence here and now. There is no right or wrong way to do it. It is the intention of your heart that grounds the turning (repentance).

As you turn toward Him, what is He bringing to your awareness? Sit with this for a few moments and rest in His presence with you.

Prayer: Lord, help me to turn to you over and over again throughout this day. Amen.