"...we must not isolate times of prayer from the general context of our life. These are very modern errors, and very
damaging ones too.
"We are contemplatives, and first of all by living a life in which everything, down to the most material aspects
of it, is organised in a way which will facilitate and express our turning to God in faith and love....the Fathers....regarded
contemplation as an act which could happen during reading, at office, or at a time of manual work: an act which was generally
of limited duration, but which was always ready to surface.
"There is a tendency in modern thought to regard contemplation as a state of mental prayer...to be cultivated...instead
of...the normal fruit of a life filled with God. For very busy people living in the world, it is justifiable to a certain
extent to make a specialization of contemplation and its technical aspects....
"Even if we have not the grace to be in a state of habitual contemplation, we will surely receive from time to time
the grace of acts of contemplation, if we are present enough to God, and open to the murmur of the Spirit."
