Why is contemplation of God a difficult, costly business? Certainly, no awakening of fervent love brings spiritual pain, because this is God’s work and not our own. God is eager to activate a prepared soul. What, then, necessitates the toil? We labor to eliminate numerous distractions that pester us, placing them under a cloud of forgetting. While we will need God’s help with this, we expend much energy. If you diligently practice your own assignment, I promise you, God will not fail you. Get on with it now! Let me see how you are doing. Can’t you see, God is waiting for you, encouraging you? Work hard for a while and you will soon find rest for your soul. Even though devotional beginners find the effort difficult, contemplative prayer will eventually become familiar and welcomed. The effort will become easy because God will sometimes work for you. The Cloud of Unknowing, Chapter 26