JOHN MAIN OSB
(1926 – 1982)
Our meditation is always . . . another step into the eternal now of God. Every time we meditate we take another step into the divine life that enlivens, brings to fullness, everyone who opens herself to it by taking this step of turning from self. The paradox we discover in the course of taking this step day by day arises from the divine paradox - a life which is wholly present, wholly without reveries or daydreams, where everything is actualized and complete, and yet which is always expanding into transcendence. The divine paradox is love….
Meditation is a continuous breakthrough into the present moment of God. This is why we can begin to understand the mystery of this process of growth only if we see it in the perspective of our whole life. The person who meditates is the person we are - the person we become from birth to death - the whole person. Not the isolated image of self we usually identity ourselves with while we are moving in and out of one or other of the phases of life. Our growth in and through meditation is not, therefore, restricted to isolated experiences. That is why concern for what we are experiencing from day to day is so counter-productive.
Spiritual growth is always growth into union which means growth out of self-consciousness. If we have this essential principle of reality made concrete in our daily fidelity to meditation we are in the happy position of one who enjoys the humble and yet absolute confidence of St Paul’s Christian who, “gifted with the Spirit, can judge the worth of everything.” Rooted in this pilgrimage, we know whether anything advances or retards the growth towards completeness in Christ. Does it make us think more about ourselves or less about ourselves? That is the Christian touchstone.