Contemplative Spirituality / Lectio Divina = Transcendantal Meditation?

[Edith K. Thurmond]

I won't try to find it, but CS Lewis says something along the lines of: the myths of pagan cultures are a reflection of God's grace working in their lives. They have a vague sense of spiritual reality and respond to it by believing certain things and behaving certain ways.

Then when the real thing is put into practice, some folks look back to the pagans and say, "Oh they're just borrowing from the pagans." Actually, the reverse is true. In their vague, superstitious understanding of spiritual reality, they stumbled onto something that had real value.

It's really an example of prevenient grace at work.

Well-known Bible teacher, Kay Arthur, in her Precept Upon Precept study class called Covenant, told of this with numerous examples from cultures of the world. She referenced an entire book on this topic which was written by a missionary (first name Bruce?) and it enabled one to see the continuity in it all. The term the missionary used for this thread woven in the cultures was redemptive analogies. It really was exciting "stuff!"

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