The Contemplative Response

I received a fascinating question today.

“How does a contemplative, prayerful person respond to horror like what happened in Boston?”

Hmm…how indeed?

Here are my two cents worth:

  1. Pray. Offer up your fear, your pleas for safety, your desire for life. Quiet
  2. Sit in mournful silence.
  3. Pray again. Offer up your anger, your need for answers, your desire for vengeful justice.
  4. Sift through emotions in silence.
  5. Pray again. Offer up your hope for peace, your gratefulness for heroes, your sympathy for loss.
  6. Create a gift of beauty that expresses your grief and offer it in humility.
  7. Pray for wisdom and guidance.
  8. Wait in silence for any actions you are called to take.
  9. Pray about the step you are holding in silence.
  10. Only after being sure of the wisdom in a calling and the source of calling, take action.

These may take days or months to complete. While you may say that such violence requires swift movement, I wonder if swift answers are true.

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