If you’ve joined us in this space recently, you may find yourself wondering what is meant by “contemplation” and “contemplative practice”. If prayer is a dialogue with God, contemplation can be understood as prayer in which God is the “speaker”, and we are the “listener”. Contemplation is an experience of the Divine Presence (although we must be careful not to assume the experience will be a sensory experience: contemplation happens primarily at the level of the spirit and often “feels” like nothing at all). Because true contemplation must, by definition, originate with God, it is pure grace – contemplation is always a gift given by God, and we are the receiver. As such, there is nothing we can do to create, manufacture, or otherwise initiate true contemplation, which is God’s prerogative alone. What we can do is to cultivate conditions and, more importantly, an interior disposition which prepares us to receive this Divine gift, and to recognize it when it comes (and because of out trust in God’s infinite love for us, we know that it will come). When we speak of contemplative practice, we are referring to those practices which prepare us and position us with a posture of receptivity toward the gift of contemplation.