Five years ago, a bright, active student leader in one of Delhi’s prestigious colleges shocked her family and college mates by joining a contemplative religious order.
MAGNET has published the story of a young woman with a Ph.D. in astrophysics who joined the contemplative Carmel convent in Pune. One of the books we reviewed was the story of Dolores Hart, a popular American actress, who became a nun.
Why do people quit successful careers and make such “crazy” choices? Why “leave” the world of family life, activity, career, social contacts, movies and movement, and enter a world of silence, prayer and utter simplicity?
What is contemplation?
If you were to put your face flat on this page, you will not be able to read it. You would be too close. If you stand ten feet away, you would be too far.
There is a proper distance for seeing right.
Contemplation, basically, is taking the right distance from things to be able to see them correctly—in God’s own light.
Things are not what they seem to be, when we see them correctly. Money or pleasure or fame or possessions can appear very attractive. In fact, they can seem to be the main reason for working hard or having a job or holding a degree. But they let us down. They prove to be illusory conquests that leave our hearts empty. The human heart wants—needs—much more than that. Nothing limited will satisfy it.
This is a universal truth about human beings. Catholic nuns and monks are not the only ones taking it seriously…
Fr Joe Mannath SDB
