In our last post, The Artist as Contemplative – Part 1: The Proper Approach, we discussed the need to have the proper approach to prayer. One of the assumptions that I have is that if you are reading these posts you are a creative person. You may be an actual working artist, or, you may be attracted to art in one of the various forms it takes and are considering taking the first step in its exploration. Even if you are just beginning to explore a specific art form it is important for you to consider yourself an artist. This is not a fraudulent act. It is the perception of yourself as you truly are as a creation of God – a naturally creative person.
The Lord has made all of us creative beings, and regardless of our job or profession we should make time in our life to develop this creativity and allow it to be expressed. If we have no time for prayer and personal creative growth then we may be in a situation that is truly unhealthy for us. Our Sacred Scriptures tell us that our God is a jealous God – He specifically said that He wants “no other gods before Him” – that is a very sobering thought. So, quiet, prayer time – even if it is only thirty minutes a day – is critical to our spiritual, physical, and creative health.
If we make time for prayer, God’s grace and energy will cascade over into our creative life. This is very important to artists, regardless of what media or medium we work in, since it demands that we focus our attention on one thing: talking to God in a natural way – talking to Him as we would talk to a close and intimate friend.
This is difficult for many people. Childhood ignorance or anxieties may still be with us. There may have been bad influences from teachers, members of the clergy and religious life, and others (including, at times, parents) who took a limited view of prayer and taught a specific prayer style to the detriment of other approaches.
By remaining positive we see that a key idea in the prayer process is to remember that when we have a conversation with someone our intellect is remembering ideas and images. We are using those ideas and images in our actual conversation. This allows the conversation to proceed from one point to another and allows ideas or issues to be shared. This is also true in conversation – that is, our prayer – with God. Our intellect, memory, and silent conversation skills within our mind cooperate together to naturally express ourselves to God. Just like the story, in my preceding post, of the little girl receiving her first Holy Communion. She expressed her prayer to God in a natural manner, which made sense and allowed her to share the concerns or ideas with the Lord that were on her mind at that time. Her prayer was a perfect natural prayer.
In examining the teachings and prayer process of St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1585), the Spanish Carmelite, Father Peter Thomas Rohrbach, O.C.D. breaks her basic prayer technique into a simple step formula. He says the goal of prayerful meditation is conversation with Jesus. You achieve this by engaging your visual memory with a specific spiritual passage. This con-versation with Jesus about the passage moves to consideration of events within your own life. This process is actual conversation with Jesus in which He, like a good friend, is quietly listening to you.
St. Teresa of Avila (seen above in the portrayal by Gérard) is not promoting a prayer life which is filled with complexities, intellectual knots, and unnatural irritations, rather, she is presenting a style which reminds us of a wise old person who has no need of thinking about numerous paragraphs of words to say to God in prayer. The wise one enters their prayer time thinking about God, and specifically His Son, Jesus – the true icon (image) of God. They then allow their love of Him to take over – and fill the blessed silence of that present moment – not with many words – but with much love. You see this is the goal: to move from quiet conversation to quiet meditation – in love – of God’s truth, goodness, and beauty.
In my next post I will provide you with a meditation taught by St. Teresa of Avila. With this Lenten meditation you should easily exercise your spiritual muscles. Also, it will help you take some time to reflect on St. Teresa of Avila’s approach and application to other moments in Jesus’ life and yours, too.
Copyright © 2012 Deacon Paul O. Iacono All Rights Reserved. Thanks to avila.com for the image of St. Teresa of Avila by artist François Gérard (1770-1837).
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The Fra Angelico Institute for Sacred Art 
The only thing I could say is that I have a very pronounced inclination to all things of God, Blessed Mary. I have a little book on St. Teresa of Avila, who read it periodically. So I’m awaiting your next post where you will provide taught with a meditation by St. Teresa of Avila. Blessings, Daniel.
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