Contemplation Is a Creative State of Being

Bangkok

Thomas Merton write: "The poet enters into himself in order to create. The contemplative enters into God in order to be created." (New Seeds of Contemplation)

"Contemplation," in Christian spirituality, is revelatory closeness with God. In contemplation one beholds the beauty of the Lord. The contemplative place is a loving union with God; a unity of love (note: not a metaphysical unity of being, even though certain Christian contemplatives come close to asserting that).

When we dwell in Christ so close that it can be described as a unitive condition, then "change" and meta-morphe (Romans 12:2) is the norm. Within one's heart the creative work of God is happening. One cannot consistently dwell in the preence of God and remain unchanged or, in Merton's language, uncreated.