My grandson, Johnny, is two and half years old. He has a favorite game that he likes to play. Johnny stands in front of me in our backyard and yells with glee, “Catch me!” When he sees he has gotten my attention, he takes off running and shouting “catch me, catch me, catch me.” And I take off chasing after him, trying to catch him.
Johnny is really fast and I am very slow with creaky knees and sore hips. I rarely catch him. But I have discovered that the real joy for Johnny is being chased not being caught.
I shared the story of this little game with my spiritual director the other day, and she immediately said, “That is how God is.” I think she is right. God calls to us, “Catch me!” And we receive the joy of chasing after God.
What does this have to do with contemplative practice? Maybe when we sit down to pray and meditate we are responding to God’s call, “Catch me!”
~ PR