Sitting In A Pew

At some point, if one is growing in their spiritual life, sitting in the pew is not going to be enough.  You will feel an urge to go deeper than words, rituals, communal gatherings and such.  But how few will follow that urge.  So few people take me up on the contemplative path.  It reminds me of a famous bible story of Jesus walking on water.  It is stormy weather and the disciples are rocking in the boat at sea.  Jesus is not in the boat.  He is walking on the water.  One of the guys in the boat, and only one, Peter, wants a closer relationship with Jesus than in that rocky boat in a storm.  Think of Covid as the storm.  Jesus invites him to get out of the boat.  Peter does and for a moment walks on water.  A moment of deep intimacy, but he gets afraid.  It is all so new and he begins to sink.  Jesus takes him by the hand and indicates trust, not doubt, will keep him on the water, and not in it.  Contemplative prayer is not scary if you have trust and are willing to try it on a daily basis.  It becomes the prayer of walking on the water.