The Trinity is unhindered kenosis or self-emptying, self-giving, holding nothing back. Jesus modeled such vulnerability and surrender: becoming human, serving the poor and the sick, and giving up his life. As Paul writes:
Who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross. [1]
Contemplative prayer is a practice of kenosis or self-emptying. At its most basic, contemplation is letting go of our habitual thoughts, preferences, judgments, and feelings. Although life itself—love, awe, or suffering—is often the catalyst for our transformation, contemplation is a daily, small death to false self and ego. It prepares a spacious place in which resurrection of True Self can occur.
Imagine you are part of a water wheel. Water flows into one bucket and pours out and into a lower bucket. In the act of lowering and emptying yourself, you make room for more water to fill you. This self-giving flow creates energy and power; it can literally change our relationships, our politics, and our world.
As you practice, I hope this way of being will become part of your actions and interactions with others, beyond your meditation cushion. People filled with the flow will always move away from any need to protect their own power and will be drawn to the powerless, the edge, the bottom, the plain, and the simple. They have all the power they need—and it always overflows, like water, seeking the lowest crevices to fill.
~Adapted from Richard Rohr with Mike Morrell, The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation (Whitaker House: 2016), 91.
[1] Philippians 2:6-8, New Revised Standard Version.
