Fruit and knowledge together
Contemplation and action as one
As this stage on the active life comes to its close, Paul prays a prayer that holds together the two things we are always tempted to separate. He asks that the Colossians would walk worthily of the Lord — bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. Action and contemplation, the outward and the inward, named together in a single breath as the marks of a life that pleases God.
Notice that Paul does not choose between them or rank one above the other. He prays for both at once: bearing fruit in every good work (the active life, overflowing outward in deeds) and increasing in the knowledge of God (the contemplative life, deepening inward in communion). These are not rival spiritualities, one for the active and one for the contemplative; they are two movements of a single life, like breathing in and breathing out.
This is the integration the whole stage has been building toward. The inner life and the active life are not at war; they are one breath — drawn in at his feet in contemplation, breathed out in love and good works in the world. A contemplation that never acts grows stagnant; an action that never contemplates runs dry. The healthy soul does both, rhythmically, continually — receiving from God and pouring out to the world, deepening in knowledge of him and bearing fruit for him. As you move toward the end of the journey, are you breathing with both lungs — in at his feet, out in love?
“Walk worthily of the Lord, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.”
— Paul, to the Colossians — Colossians 1:10 (WEB)
Hold contemplation and action together as one breath — increasing in the knowledge of God and bearing fruit in every good work — neither at the expense of the other.
“Make you complete in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ.”
We feel pressed to pick a side — to be the prayerful type or the active type — as if contemplation and action were rival camps and we could only belong to one. The interior work is to accept Paul's refusal of the choice, holding fruit in every good work and the knowledge of God together as one breath, since prayer that never moves the hands grows stale and service that never returns to its source soon empties.
As this stage closes, check whether you are breathing with both lungs: if you lean contemplative, add fruitful action this week; if you lean active, deepen your knowledge of God — holding the two together as the single rhythm of a worthy life.
The enemy will happily let you breathe with a single lung — all inward stillness that never acts, or all busy doing that never communes — so your life either stagnates or runs dry. But the soul that draws in at his feet and breathes out in love lives the whole worthy life, bearing fruit and growing in the knowledge of God, that he can never reduce to a lopsided half.
We are forever tempted to choose between contemplation and action, to be either the inward, prayerful type or the outward, active type, as if they were rival spiritualities. Paul's prayer refuses the choice, holding both together as the marks of a life that pleases God: bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. Action and contemplation, named in a single breath.
This is the integration the whole stage has built toward. The inner life and the active life are not at war but are one breath — drawn in at his feet in communion, breathed out in love and good works in the world. A contemplation that never acts grows stagnant; an action that never contemplates runs dry. The healthy soul does both, rhythmically and continually, receiving from God and pouring out to others. As the journey nears its end, the question is whether you are breathing with both lungs — deepening in the knowledge of God, and bearing fruit in every good work.
- Do I treat contemplation and action as rival spiritualities?
- Am I breathing with both lungs, or only one?
- Where do I need to add action, or deepen knowledge of God?
Lord, I choose between contemplation and action as if they were rivals, and my life stagnates or runs dry. Let me breathe with both lungs — increasing in the knowledge of you and bearing fruit in every good work — drawn in at your feet and breathed out in love. Amen.