The Gate of Heaven is Everywhere

Reading William Thiele’s The Gate of Heaven is Everywhere is like slipping into a cool green lake. Refreshing, rejuvenating, and thoroughly immersive.

I’ve done contemplation of one sort or another throughout my life, and William’s book reminded me why. But, more importantly, it taught me that the way I do contemplation is less important than doing it. There’s no finger-wagging here. There is no insistence, except to insist the Sacred is within us and accessible every day in ways that fit each of us.

I’m going to repeat that. You may be like me. You’ve done contemplation, tried to follow the “rules,” and it just doesn’t work for you. If so, you will appreciate the freeing nature of this concept. William, who is the founder of the School for Contemplative Living that has meant so much to me, encourages us to find our own way of practicing contemplation. He even included “contemplative swimming” as an available practice! (Y’all know that engages my heart.)

As William described ways to access the Divine, I learned a new word: kataphatic. In this context, karaphatic his means accessing God through the senses. It’s in contrast to apophatic. Apophatic is the traditional view of contemplation where you drop all thoughts to encounter God through an inner sense. I’m clearly in the former camp. Only now am I being affirmed that there actually are other ways to do it. So—ha, ha—I’m not weird, just finding my own way. Hallelujah!

The book offers guidance to help us re-awake to human connection and see how the “Divine interpenetrates all of life.” We’re encouraged to practice the presence of God together. Again, so different from the stereotypical view of the practitioner sitting alone in the dark. (I’m sure William would be quick to affirm this as a perfectly good way to access God if it is your way.) The telling is interspersed with William’s personal stories, which make it very readable. Plus, his self-deprecating humor is delightful. In The Gate of Heaven is Everywhere, contemplation is a way to reach for our “deep identity” and honor our dreams. I will return to it often.

Evangeline claiming “The Gate of Heaven is Everywhere” as her own.