REMEDY: Contemplation Practice for Week Six

Non-Judgement

For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory.

2 Corinthians 1:20

According to Richard Rohr;

"Presence is experienced in a participative way, outside the mind. The mind by nature is intent on judging, controlling, and analyzing instead of seeing, tasting, and loving. This is exactly why it cannot be present or live in the naked now. The mind wants a job and loves to process things. The key to stopping this game is quite simply, peace, silence, or stillness."

If we want to learn to be truly available to God to reach the world around us, a good first step is to learn this practice of living in the moment and putting our self-made barriers of judgement in their proper place. In order to truly love others, we must be willing to put aside our knee-jerk reaction of judging them.

Practice

1. Find a place with a fair amount of other people you don't know (mall, airport, gym, etc.)

2. Sit in a comfortable position. Silently say a prayer - ask God to open your eyes to the world around you.

3. For 10 minutes, simply watch as people pass around you. Note your thoughts as you see them.

Do you make immediate judgements about them ("Wow, he's fat." "She is so ugly." "That's a hideous outfit.")?

Or, are you able to accept them as they are, children of a God who loves them? Are you able to say "Yes" to their presence and existence?

4. At the end of 10 minutes, thank God for the opportunity to be His ambassador to the world around us and ask Him to continue to open your heart to love others.