The Contemplative Swing

Who doesn’t like to swing? Playground swing, porch swing, even as infants being rocked in a chair is close to swinging. That rhythmic soar, legs pumping to increase the breadth of the arc somehow feels meditative in it’s motion. In fact I’ve been in more than one contemplative retreat garden where I’ve found a swing waiting for anyone who wanted to swing and pray. For me there is some connection to the inward and outward movement of the spiritual life, the forward and backward movement of life, that reminds me of swinging and I like the playfulness of that image.

But I also remember as a child a bit of a fear factor on a swing…what if I went too high, or didn’t hold on tight enough? What would it feel like if I jumped out? And maybe there is a bit of vulnerability too in choosing to live a contemplative life, one that feels a bit counter cultural to the pace, the noise, the activity surrounding us. Yet, as we live this life, we will invariably also feel that forward thrust, to risk going higher, maybe even to jump into a new territory to “do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.”

But as we land on new ground, we will ultimately return to the swing, slowly pushing back, looking inward, listening with heart, mind, and spirit, until once we again we are led to new territory in the inner place as well as the outward expression of that place. I think I’ll find a swing nearby, or maybe put one in my own back yard even though the children are grown, and find time to swing as a spiritual, contemplative practice.

How have you experienced the back and forth movement of your spiritual life? What has happened when you’ve taken a leap of faith from your inner place into the great community?