Two Signs

“I sense a question rising in your mind. Perhaps you are thinking something like this: ‘Tell me, please, is there one sign, or more, to help me test the meaning of this growing desire I feel for contemplative prayer?’…[There are two signs,] one interior and one exterior…The interior sign is that growing desire for contemplation constantly intruding in your daily devotions…The second sign is exterior and it manifests itself as a certain joyful enthusiasm welling up within you, whenever you hear or read about contemplation.”
—Privy Counsel, Ch. 18

All of this continues a kind of aside from the technique of contemplative meditation, but is nevertheless important since the author of Privy Counsel discusses at length the fact that this practice is not for everyone. So, who is it for? And here in Chapter 18 he answers with some signposts that might indicate one is opening to the practice.

The first is key, and I think happens to far more people than they realize. I encounter many people who say, “I just can’t pray anymore,” by which they mean, “I can’t pray with words anymore.” They usually don't realize that there are ways to pray that don't involve words, or even ideas and concepts. This dissatisfaction with traditional prayer is not in itself a sign of a budding contemplative, but in accompaniment with other variables like access to the teachings on contemplative prayer, someone to guide them in the practice, and life circumstances that present the opportunity for practice, it could be. The second sign is the response to discovering this silent way of knowing God. If it resonates with your deepest being, if it makes sense intuitively, if you feel its pull, then perhaps you are ripe for the practice.

In Chapter 19, the author goes on to describe how this all comes together. I have nothing to add by way of commentary. The author speaks for himself:

“Your whole personality will be transformed, you countenance will radiate an inner beauty…A thousand miles would you run to speak with another who you knew really felt it, and yet when you got there, find yourself speechless…Your words will be few, but so fruitful and full of fire that the little you say will hold a world of wisdom (though it may seem nonsense to those still unable to transcend the limits of reason). Your silence will be peaceful, your speech helpful and your prayer secret in the depths of your being. Your self-esteem will be natural…your way with others gentle, and your laughter merry…How dearly you will love to sit apart by yourself, knowing that others, not sharing your desire and attraction, would only hinder you…Thus the mounting desire for contemplation and the joyful enthusiasm that seizes you when you read or hear of it meet and become one.”