Paths to Contemplation - 38

The third stage of spiritual growth

In the first stage of spiritual growth God was viewed as distant, someone who gave laws and expected them to be obeyed.  Someone who would grant an immense reward or everlasting torment depending on whether one passed or failed whatever test existed to separate the saved from the lost.  

In the second stage of spiritual growth, the goodness of God becomes more apparent to me, and I view God as close at hand, someone interested in my personal welfare, someone anxious to help me.  I begin to share my thoughts more spontaneously with God.  Fear gives way to companionship.  I begin to want to please God through service rather than merely avoiding sin.

In the third stage, God is recognized as a lover inviting the soul to a deep intimacy, drawing the soul into union with himself so that the soul can experience God as God is.

The soul’s motive now becomes pleasing one who is deeply loved.  Just as a human lover is willing to sacrifice for the beloved, so now the soul is willing to sacrifice herself for God, wanting above all else to belong to God, not out of hope of reward or fear of punishment, but because God alone is worth possessing.  The soul would willingly give up every earthly treasure to gain the “pearl of great price,” which is God, and only God.

Prayer in this stage may involve contemplation, a quiet resting in God, the beloved.   Infused contemplation may occur regularly, although we must always remember that infused contemplation is a free gift of God and can occur at any stage of spiritual growth.  It may also be withheld if God feels that a soul would not benefit from it.  

The soul wants more than ever to know God, to experience God, to be with God.  It is no longer a desire that resides primarily in the emotions or senses, but it is felt at the deepest levels of the soul’s being.  It rises above feelings and emotion, just as the love of a married couple for one another must rise above mere emotion and physical attraction if it is to mature and last.

“My beloved is mine and I am his,” the soul cries out in joy.  The soul wants to put away all vestiges of sin, anything that separates the soul from God, so that the union with God can be more complete, more consuming.