They who live not for themselves but for him, find in death itself the way to life.

One of the important themes you’ll hear in the talks and lectures by Christian contemplatives, and specifically advocates of Christian Meditation such as John Main and Laurence Freeman, is the concept of “dying to self”. In the contemplative sense, this means connecting with the transcendent and intuitively knowing the transience and insignificance of “the self” or “the ego”. By denying our “self” in contemplation and prayer, and self-denial in word and action, we can achieve great things, such as Burnley’s Pastor Mick…