The Illusion Of Special Election

You cannot solve moral dilemmas by applying generalized rules. That is why contemplation is so important to the spiritual life because it gets beyond the rules altogether.

Contemplation is critical when it comes to allaying the sense of privilege and the subsequent righteousness that comes with the psychological disease of self-appointed struggle. The illusion of special election is endemic in all causes that claim to be ultimate; religious faith is no exception. When people concentrate on particular, limited aspects of what they have become convinced to be good they inevitably become perverse and singular. Their singularity begets blindness and deafness to God. An entire community or movement so based can give the impression of being something heroic. Fidelity to predictability is an easy substitute for actually living. You see, there are risks, after all, in real life. Contemplation embodies an openness to experience which in the end is unpredictable. Contemplatives by rights should be ones who know that genuine sociability is the only true directive that God offers to people.