100. The pleasures of contemplation
100. THE PLEASURES OF CONTEMPLATION
How strange it sounds to hear St. Thomas locate the deepest pleasure in the intellect, in contemplation, in philosophical and theological wisdom. Was that just his “thing” because he happened to be “turned on” by philosophy and monasticism? Or is there something universally human about it?
It is written (Wis 8:16): Her (i.e., wisdom’s) conversation hath no bitterness, nor her company any tediousness; but joy and gladness. Now the conversation and company of wisdom are found in contemplation. Therefore there is no sorrow contrary to the pleasure of contemplation. . . .
Nor has it any sorrow annexed to it, as bodily pleasures have, which are like remedies against certain annoyances; thus a man takes pleasure in drinking through being troubled with thirst, but when the thirst is quite driven out, the pleasure of drinking ceases also. Because the pleasure of contemplation is not caused by one’s being quit of an annoyance, but by the fact that contemplation is pleasant in itself. . . (I-II,3 5,5).
If you have never experienced “the joy of contemplation”, here is a powerful argument for opening your mind to the possibility that you are missing something: divine revelation, not just philosophers like St. Thomas, says so.
Some pleasures are merely physical. They give pleasure to our bodies. Some are emotional: they give pleasure to our desires. These two kinds of pleasures are genuine, and God-designed; but they are “lower”. The higher animals share them too.
Three kinds of “higher”, uniquely human, pleasures are the pleasures of three powers of the human soul that no animal even approximates: (1) the pleasures of religion, of yielding our whole self to God, (2) the pleasures of morality, of yielding our will and our actions to the true good, true principles, and true virtue, and (3) the pleasures of contemplation, of yielding our mind to truth and beauty.
These higher pleasures are not like oases in the desert, compensations for sorrows, relief from problems, like anesthetics or shopping sprees or escapist entertainment. They do not presuppose pain for us to appreciate them, as most pleasures do. They are good in themselves, and therefore they are among the very few things that we can enjoy forever without boredom. They are Heavenly. Even here they are a faint foretaste of the joys of Heaven. Lovers looking into each other’s faces are not bored.
Many people in our poor, sad, hectic world do not even know that such joys exist. And even among those who do know that they exist, many do not know that contemplation is among them.
What should such people do? Simply try it. Practice contemplative prayer. Just practice the presence of God. Do nothing but “look” at Him, with faith. See His perfection and beauty. See His love of you. Just stay there. There is nothing you have to do. Just be in His presence. Nothing else. Just look at Him looking at you and loving you. Try it. You’ll like it.
“Contemplation” does not mean something only monks and mystics do. When you enjoy a beautiful piece of music, a painting, a landscape, or a beautiful human face, you are contemplating, and enjoying it. “Contemplation” is not for “intellectuals” only, for it is not the kind of “intellection” that a computer, or a computer geek, does. It is the kind of intellection a lover does when he gazes into the face of his beloved. “I just look at him and He just looks at me” is what the peasant saint told the Cure of Ars when he asked him what he did when he prayed.
You’re going to enjoy doing it forever in the “Beatific Vision”, so you’d better start practicing here.