Hello to all readers. I’m currently reading “The cloud of unknowing”, a classic book on contemplative prayer, written during the Middle Ages. Its unknown author describes contemplative prayer as a process of repeatedly beating on the underside of the darkness and unknowability that surrounds God. This beating is done with the sharp arrow of our love for him. Such a description may well accurately reflect many people’s experience, but mine is a bit different, as today’s prayer describes…
Clouds and thick darkness
* Clouds and thick darkness surround him (Psalm 97:2).
* “…struggle to pierce that darkness above you; and beat on that thick cloud of unknowing with a sharp dart of longing love” (The Cloud of Unknowing and Other Works; Penguin Classics, 2001, translated by A.C.Spearing).
* But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content (Psalm 131:2).
Father,
I don’t have the energy
To beat on the clouds
That hide you;
So instead,
I simply step into them –
Straight into the darkness around you,
Trusting you like a little child,
Seeking your face,
And opening myself to your love.