Contemplation in the Streets: Developing a Spiritual Discipline for Difficult Contexts

This project is about seeing. It is about learning to see by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit the beauty and excellence of Jesus in the difficult and challenging contexts of the world. The discerning of God’s presence that is being referred to is not unlike the seeing experienced by the two companions on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35). Jerusalem was dangerous. Jesus had just been unjustly tried, cruelly beaten, and then horrifically executed. Hope was dashed, the disciples were hiding for their lives, and these two companions, filled with sadness, had slipped out and were on their way to a different town. Jesus came to talk and journey with them, but they did not recognize him until he opened their eyes to see. At that moment, everything changed. Filled with hope and excitement they ran back to the danger with good news. Beholding the resurrected Lord changes everything.
Contemplation in the streets refers to a contemplative practice that defines how, as incarnational Christian workers, we endeavor to behold and delight in the resurrected Jesus in the painful and challenging contexts of our world. This project investigates how an incarnational mission sodality (in this case InnerCHANGE) could envision contemplation in the streets as the primary aim in all of their formation practices for the sustenance of its members and the gospel transformation of the challenging contexts in which its members serve.