Topic summary
Christian contemplation
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Christian mysticism.
Meditation and contemplation
In discursive meditation, such as Lectio Divina, mind and imagination and other faculties are actively employed in an effort to understand Christians' relationship with God. In contemplative prayer, this activity is curtailed, so that contemplation has been described as "a gaze of faith", "a silent love". There is no clear-cut boundary between Christian meditation and Christian contemplation, and they sometimes overlap. Meditation serves as a foundation on which the contemplative life stands, the practice by which someone begins the state of contemplation.