The mysteries of the faith are degraded if they are made into an object of affirmation and negation, when in reality they should be an object of contemplation.
--Simone Weil
"Mystery isn't something that is gradually evaporating. It grows along with knowledge."
--Flannery O'Connor
I have remembered these lines dozens of times over the years. With them came my first experiences of contemplation. By chewing on these quotes I came to appreciate how the contemplative stance is an active, dynamic way of seeing.
To affirm or negate is to stand in judgment–to come to a conclusion. To contemplate is to kneel in openness and silence before that which cannot be understood conceptually. Like an iceberg, the vast majority of God's ways are largely hidden from our perception. "Watching and waiting" without comprehending is our daily reality in relation to God. It doesn't seem too strong to say that in regards to the mystery we are either contemplatives or presumptuous fools.
We are what we eat and we become like that to which we give our attention. So it is with contemplation. It is only by maintaining a loving gaze on the Great Mystery rather than merely affirming some conceptual truth and moving on with our business, that we grow into the vastness of God.