Contemplative Life vs. Active Life

By  Engr. Carlos V. Cornejo

To contemplate means to look at something or someone thoughtfully for a long time.  Contemplation gives joy.  When we contemplate for example the beauty of the stars at night in a cloudless sky, it gives us a certain kind of spiritual delight.  St. Thomas Aquinas says the more noble is the object being contemplated the greater the joy.  If a young lad contemplates the beauty (both physical and inner beauty) of his beloved lady it gives far greater joy than contemplating the beauty of nature.  And the highest form of contemplation is the contemplation of God, and of course, it gives the greatest joy too.

Active life referred to here are noble human actions such as gardening, cooking, babysitting, work in the office, studying in a university, etc.  It seems that the active life is better than contemplative life because actions produce tangible results that delights us. But St. Thomas says contemplation is superior and more excellent than action based on seven reasons.   First, because contemplation is more proper to man because of his two faculties that separates him from animals, intellect (the power to know) and will (the power to choose).  Contemplation is making use of the intellect to contemplate the truth about God and the spiritual realm (yes, there is a spiritual world that’s better than the physical world) but active life is more of manual work.   Second, because contemplation is more continuous or uninterrupted than action which could be distracted or interrupted by many things.  You can do your prayer or contemplating God for thirty minutes and even more, with no interruption in a church or chapel. Third, because the contemplative life is more delightful than the active.  There is so much in God we can contemplate and not get bored because He is infinite.  This very article I am writing for example is just one aspect of the spiritual life that we can very much spiritually appreciate. In comparing between Mary and Martha the representatives of contemplative life and active life respectively in the Gospel (Luke 10:38-42), St. Augustine says that Martha was troubled but Mary feasted in listening to the Lord.  Fourth, because in contemplation man is self-sufficient, it does not require much things.  You just have to sit down or kneel inside a Church for example and contemplate Christ in the Blessed Sacrament whereas active life requires many things such as tools, money, transportation, etc.  Fifth, because the contemplative life is loved for its own sake or the act of contemplating is a joy in itself whereas the active life is directed to something that still has to be worked out and the result of the activity is not yet assured of its success.  When you study for an exam for example, it’s not assured you will pass the exam after taking it.  The same thing with putting up a business, it’s not guaranteed to be successful.  But contemplation of God, always bears fruit.  Sixth, because the contemplative life consists of leisure and rest (resting in the Lord), whereas the active life is done to be able to have leisure and rest as one of the goals in life.  We work to earn a living for example so that we are able to have the basic needs of life such food and shelter and be able to enjoy them and or have leisure with our family with these provisions.  Work by itself does not directly give us leisure and rest, only contemplation does.  And lastly, because the contemplative life is directed to divine things while the active life is directed to human things. Divine things are infinite (thus not boring) and eternal, while human things are limited (boring) and temporary.

This is not to say that we should not work anymore and just focus on praying and contemplating.  God does not want us to stay all day inside the church but to follow our normal work schedule while setting aside time for prayer and contemplation each day, usually before or after our work day.   This is to emphasize the importance of regular prayer and contemplation so as to grow in our relationship with God and likewise have greater peace and joy in our lives.  And if we want to make our daily work a form of prayer in itself, St. Josemaria Escriva recommends offering up our daily work to God, by keeping in mind God’s presence while we work. And of course, it would mean doing our work well because we have to offer our best output for God.  In that way, we pray when we work and we include our work in our prayer.  “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:17)