A Litany of Liberation

Contemplation is very far from being just one kind of thing Christians do: it is the key to prayer, liturgy, art and ethics, the key to the essence of a renewed humanity that is capable of seeing the world and other subjects in the world with freedom—freedom from self-oriented, acquisitive habits and the distorted understanding that comes from them

Contemplative practice proceeds by way of the engaged receptivity of release, of prying loose, of letting go of the need to have our life circumstances be a certain way in order for us to live or pray or be deeply happy.

When all is said and done, what liberation truly means is that we are so completely absorbed in the momentary flow of life that there is not the slightest rejection of the moment or situation.

means to stop defending yourself against your own pain and allow your point of view—your narrative story about your suffering—to open up to new and unexpected perspectives. Holding your suffering in the felicity of love instead of the self-justifying or self-loathing narrative of ego protectionism is the key that unlocks the door to greater freedom