Yes

All prayer is seconding the motion. God is the initial motion, the initiative. In contemplation, we become aware of God's movement and surrender to it. We begin with "yes," ready to receive reality just as it is and ready to let it teach us. Contemplation teaches us how to say "yes"--yes to the moment, yes to the event, yes to the relationship.

It is what it is before you analyze it,

compare it to something else,

or prefer it to something else.

It takes much of your life to learn how to always begin with yes. I warn you that if you begin with no--which culture by and large trains us to do because the ego prefers the negative--it's very hard to get back to yes.

 

Saying "yes" to the moment allows space for the real question, which is "What does this have to say to me?" Those who are totally converted come to every experience and ask not whether they like it, but what does it have to teach them.

"What's the message or gift in this for me?

How is God in this event?

Where is God in this suffering?

What is God calling me to do?"

~R. Rohr