Trying to Be Contemplative

My dear friend Phil Foster forwarded me this link to a wonderful article by the late Gerald May, called Trying to Be Contemplative. It’s built around one of my favorite Zen sayings, “Quit trying. Quit trying not to try. Quit quitting!” Here’s a taste:

This summer I’ll be going into the desert alone again. I’m sure I’ll want to be contemplative. I hope and pray that I won’t impose my ideas and efforts about contemplation on whatever God has in store for me there. If my eyes seek the beauty of the sky, if my limbs want to move over the land, if my thoughts want to roam, I hope God will save me from the arrogance of calling such things distractions.

Amen!