What are the subjects that a person can take as a field for contemplation?
Between the Magazine and the Readers
Question:
What are the subjects that a person can take as a field for contemplation?
Answer:
The subjects of contemplation cannot be enumerated or counted, but we can present to you a few topics as examples:
One can contemplate the verses of the Holy Bible, or the phrases mentioned in the prayers—whether the prayers of the Divine Liturgy, the Psalms, or personal prayers.
Likewise, one can contemplate nature, as the Lord Christ said: “Contemplate the birds of the sky; contemplate the lilies of the field.”
One can also contemplate all the events and scenes that one sees.
The Lord has presented to us contemplations in the sower who went out to sow, the merchant who bought a pearl, the fisherman who separated the good fish from the bad, the virgins who went out to meet the bridegroom, and the man who wanted to build a tower.
But the most beautiful type of contemplation is contemplation in the Divine Essence:
In the attributes of God, in God’s dealings with people, in eternity, in heaven and the angels, and in the Second Coming. There are also people who contemplate death and judgment.
Likewise, one can contemplate the virtues and some spiritual and theological meanings.
An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – Al-Keraza Magazine – Fifth Year – Issue Ten – December 7, 1974.
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