MACAO – May 02, 2013. Having been asked these days by some brothers about the global issues, such as environmental crisis, terrorism, disease, weapon of mass destruction (WMD), debt and poverty, and so forth, the topics were simply following me to the morning meditations when I thought of the Dominicans’ contemplative life as a possible solution to those issues.
 As I see it, all the global issues could be rooted in the local and individual issues of the self, which are very often more selfish than selfless. Paradoxically, human beings, on the one hand, would like to come together in unity, for there, by sharing the same values in the community, they find it happy; on the other, out of their over-ambition, self-importance and self-interest, people turn out to be the active causes of all negative issues towards the others, which later spread globally and affect the dignity and rights of all humanity, including their own. Hence, an approach to the so-called global issues from a communal perspective – that all their possible repercussions may destroy our common good – would be more Christian, relevant, and resonating with the human conscience.
 Contemplation is regarded as the foundation of the Dominican life, where the spiritual fruits rooted would then be shared for the salvation of souls, which is in fact the raison-d’être of the Dominicans. Yet, what is contemplation, one may ask, according to the Dominican tradition? Saint Dominic, the Founder of the Order, has already given us a prototype of how to act: Speaking to God and of God only. Contemplation, therefore, means speaking to God.
 Speaking to God, of course, entails the real love of God and the ability to discern the presence of God, to listen to God and to live in God. Friar Vincent de Couesnogle, when discussed about the contemplative dimension of Dominican life in 1983, saw it “a living relationship with God which, when it is intensified and prolonged, becomes a looking, a loving, a listening and welcoming of God.†A living relationship with God as such should urge God-lovers to recognize God and listen to the truths of God just around the corner, in the persons beside us. “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen†(1 John 4:20). Indeed, the truths of God are objectively true in themselves, not merely in or interfered by any human authorities, properties and sympathies. Listening and being readily to listen to the truths of God is also the Dominican profession, though!
 Truly speaking to God would oblige the contemplator to speak of God. “Seed when scattered fructifies, when hoarded, rots†– said Saint Dominic. Speaking of God alone thrusts aside the temptation to speak of oneself, usually boasting or presenting of one’s concerns, which may bore the audience and at times cause conflicts. Habitually speaking to God and of God would then give the contemplator no time falling into trivial gossips, which very often result in prejudiced judgments and hateful actions. On the contrary, a transcendental encounter with God would allow the contemplators enough charity to “do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than themselves†(Philippians 2:3). Speaking of God undoubtedly compels certain work of prophecy, fraternal corrections, and just criticism for the good of the beloved, not political correctness for the sake of our own selves.
 As we have seen, Dominican contemplation would lead the contemplator to a dynamic encounter with God – the Truth, the Beauty, and the Goodness. Knowing God is the beginning of knowing and realizing oneself. By way of the Divinity humanity can thus overcome any shortcomings, differences, be connected and reunited – the common good that humans themselves at times cannot make it. Dominican contemplation is quite unlike other oriental methods of meditation, which aim at single-pointed concentration, or single-pointed analysis, or simply for a relaxation of mind. Dominican contemplation aims an intimate communion with God and a spiritual conversion of oneself out of loving God.
 In a world that is widely globalized yet deeply divided by individualism like today, an actual practice of the Dominican contemplation allows one to constantly stay in touch with God, in which relationship they certainly find solutions to their communal issues, I believe. For no one claims to really love God, saying, eagerly listening to the Truth, yet fails to recognize the truths in their neighbors, looks down on them, “kisses up, kicks down,†thinks first of their own interests and disdains the others’. In the hustle and bustle of this secularized world, Dominicans even need to practice contemplating more than ever, so that they may always be on clear conscience, able to sense the sacredness in daily life, to keep up their identity and to live up their vocation properly.
 Yet, contemplating would only be possible in solitude, in tranquility of soul, “in poor spirit†(Matthew 5:3), where those who truly long for God (cf. Psalm 42:2) can thus be satisfied and renewed in God. Suitable environment is needed for the seeds of contemplation. Positive role models are needed for the progression of contemplation. Fellow companions, as long as they are upholders, not distractors, are needed, too, for the fruits and sharing of those fruits of contemplation.
Peter Thoại, O.P.