Prayer, Writing, Contemplation & Dante

My reading for the past year (aside from seminary required reading) has included an emphasis on contemplation and prayer.  These things are areas God is working in my life, drawing me closer to Him.  The major benefit of singleness, as acknowledge through the ages, is time to think and the ability to determine for one's priorities.

I am convicted that prayer and writing are two areas I need to focus on.  I have always dabbled in writing poetry - both metrical and free verse.  I tend to go in "spurts" where I write a lot, then write nothing for months.  I also have in process several other writing projects, aside from the poetry, which need to be completed.

Since last fall, I have been struggling to figure out how to integrate more prayer and poetry into my devotional life.

I'm not sure I have the solution.

Last fall, I wanted to take a class focused on St. Ignatius' Spiritual Excercies at a Franciscan Spirituality Center.  Instead, I am doing it this fall.  It involves committing to praying an hour a day, and I am not sure I can really accomplish that, but I suspect the payoff will be worth it.  I've also become fascinated by the idea of Benedictine living & Benedictine Oblates- the focus on prayer while doing daily things.  In my mind, there has to be a way to integrate the everyday things into a prayer life (Brother Lawrence anyone?)

Last spring, I started writing a poem a day.  I was surprised at how easily it worked for about 60 days.  Then, I fell off the wagon.  I have spurts where I think I need to pick that up again, but I'm not ready to do that.  I suspect my poetry writing needs to take off again and will with the focus on prayer.

I'm also taking a class on Emotional Maturity and Spiritual Leadership.  Interestingly, the first book addresses our family of origin and contemplative living.  (Perhaps I was on to something with the prayer and poetry writing!).

My inspiration this fall is Dante, the medieval poet.  I started reading The Divine Comedy this summer and was astounded by the complex poetic verse and the religious ideas that permeate it.  How does one invent such things?  How do you invent it during 1300?  How do you do it in rhyming verse?

I love the imagery, the illusion to scripture, the structure of hell, purgatory and heaven, the addition of catholic ideas (when we were all members of the catholic church), and the fusion of Roman and Greek mythology.  My history classes definitely help me to understand Dante's comments on church history and function.

So, with Dante as inspiration, prayer as a devotion, and poetry as a method to express myself, I hope to dive into the contemplative lifestyle.