heavenly meditation was a contemplative-mystical expression of love and grateful
gazing upon Jesus. One wonders how Barth would have responded to Ambrose’s
Looking Unto Jesus? Clearly his practice of contemplation was not a cul-de-sac and
God was the object of it. Further, it was Word-centered, Christ-focused, Spirit-
empowered, and God-glorified. Perhaps the recovery of Ambrose’s “contemplative-
mystical piety” today faces its greatest challenge in the Western world where people
are so attached to their earthly possessions that the prospects of heaven are not that
compelling. However, Reformed theologian Bruce Demarest persuasively argues the
necessity of recovering mysticism and contemplation because they are “not a perilous
aberration of Christian faith, but the promise of a rewarding life with and for
Christ.”^232 Therefore, Ambrose can direct others to “[g]et we into our hearts an habit
of more heavenly-mindednesse, by much exercise, and intercourse, and acquaintance
with God, by often contemplation, and foretaste of the sweetnesse, glory, and eternity
of those Mansions above.”^233
Sixth, and an important corollary of cultivating a contemplative piety, is the
biblical integration of contemplation and action that was evident in both chapters 3
and 4. Indeed, it is unfortunate that Barth was constrained by his anxieties and binary
thinking and failed to see the possibility and strengths that Bavinck understood in this
combination. Habitually Reformed Christians have tended to emphasize the active
engagement with the world more than refreshing the soul in prayer. While service is
necessary, over time it frequently creates depleted and demoralized followers of
Jesus. One tangible means for addressing this was sudden meditation or ejaculatory
prayer. Ambrose wisely encouraged practicing this and other spiritual duties
232
233 Demarest, “Mysticism: Peril or Promise?” 17 Ambrose, Media (1657), 55..^