This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.” Isaiah 30:15
“What we plant in the soil of contemplation, we shall reap in the harvest of action. What a man takes in by contemplation, that he pours out in love.”
Meister Eckhart (c. 1260-1328) in Civilization’s Quotations: Life’s Ideal, edited by Richard Alan Krieger (New York: Algora, 2002) 185.
Today marks my shift from Puritan preachers to Christian mystics with this post. What’s contemplative prayer have to do with generosity? Everything!
From my personal experience with my ‘daily office’, the generous life flows out of my experience of the Source of all goodness each morning. Others choose to contemplate on their bed at night. A dear friend of mine has a job that requires lots of driving, so as a ‘mobile monk’ he prays virtually all day on the road. When you contemplate does not matter; what matters is taking time for contemplation on a regular basis.
Most people don’t stop to think in quietness. They don’t rest and reflect and consider charting a new course. This is not my assessment. It’s what the Sovereign LORD says in today’s Scripture.
As generosity is a fruit of the Spirit’s work in us (Galatians 5:22-23), if you want to live a generous life, start by sowing some time in contemplation with the Lord daily and see what loving action follows.