James Baldwin, The Contemplative
A post by Guesnerth Josué Perea
“Contemplation in Africana contexts is an act of communal reflection and reflexive engagement.” - Barbara Holmes, Joy Unspeakable
“I walk out of my house toward no particular destination, and watch the faces that pass me. Where do they come from? how did they become—these faces—so cruel and so sterile? they are related to whom? they are related to what?” - James Baldwin, Nothing Personal
The first time I read James Baldwin, I was on the way to Holy Cross Monastery. It was my first solo retreat, and I wanted to be grounded in some words that meant a lot to me. I chose Baldwin's The Fire Next Time, his powerful exploration of race in America, anchored by a letter to his nephew. I'd been hesitant about reading Baldwin. I don't really know why—perhaps I thought he was too profound for me to understand. His name was mentioned in undergrad, less so in grad school. But my mentor frequently quoted him alongside other influential writers whom I now also consider contemplative guides.
Sharing my reading choice with a Black monk at the monastery, I was surprised by his dismissive reaction to Baldwin's writing. He didn’t like Baldwin’s critique of the church. I disagreed, and Baldwin’s words lingered as I continued my retreat, wrestling with my own thoughts and ideas about the church. Like any meaningful struggle, internalizing Baldwin’s work became essential.
I devoured The Fire Next Time at the monastery. Having only brought one Baldwin book with me, I turned to the convenience of technology (I usually prefer the feel of physical pages – they seem to hold the truth better), downloading No Name in the Street and Go Tell It on the Mountain. Baldwin became my retreat companion, his words echoing within me as I engaged in contemplative practices.
“Love takes off the masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within. I use the word "love" here not merely in the personal sense but as a state of being, or a state of grace - not in the infantile American sense of being made happy but in the tough and universal sense of quest and daring and growth.” - James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time
This was just the start of my connection to James Baldwin as a contemplative guide – someone who helps us become more whole and true to ourselves, someone whose words can change us. We often find these guides in traditional figures like Thomas Merton, St. Teresa of Avila, or, more recently for many, Howard Thurman – all important guides within the conventional definition. But during that first silent retreat at Holy Cross Monastery, Baldwin was mine. A non-traditional choice. He journeyed with me as I sought greater integration within myself.
When we think of contemplation, we often think of a specific Christian saint or mystic who provides guidance on how to engage in practices that lead us to the heart of the divine. Traditionally, contemplative spaces have been governed and led by people who consider themselves religious in a specific context. We do not usually make room for others who may have had a profound spirituality but did not follow a particular tradition. In other words, contemplatives are traditionally seen as religious figures.
We know that James Baldwin grew up Christian and was a preacher at a very young age. He ultimately decided not to identify with Christianity or any particular religion officially. Although some may be quick to dismiss his spiritual insights as unimportant because of this fact, in truth he dealt with the subject of faith throughout the entirety of his career. The last major essay he wrote before his passing dealt with what it means to be Christian.
“Salvation is not flight from the wrath of God; it is accepting and reciprocating the love of God. Salvation is not separation. It is the beginning of union with all that is or has been or will ever be.” - James Baldwin, To Crush a Serpent
If we break down the word "contemplation" to its most basic meaning, we find that it is, as Barbara Holmes has said, "a spiritual practice that has the potential to heal, instruct, and connect us to the source of our being." This definition opens up the possibilities for what contemplation means and who can be considered a contemplative.
James Baldwin, like other contemplatives before him, believed that love was a way for us to connect, and to be saved, regardless of one's religious beliefs. Baldwin's work provides us with an opportunity to see contemplation in a new light, as a way to connect with the world around us and with our inner selves.
“It is the miracle of love, love strong enough to guide or drive one into the great estate of maturity, or, to put it another way, into the apprehension and acceptance of one's own identity. For some deep and ineradicable instinct—I believe—causes us to know that it is only this passionate achievement which can outlast death, which can cause life to spring from death.” - James Baldwin, Nothing Personal
What we learn from James Baldwin is the ability to reconsider, rethink, and reframe faith. These three things, I believe, are what connect all contemplative thinkers across space and time.
“Black is a tremendous spiritual condition, one of the greatest challenges anyone alive can face…” James Baldwin, No Name in the Street
Contemplation is a means of interacting with the world. As a contemplative, I had to learn how to center myself and find a way to analyze myself, the world, and what is happening both personally and communally, so that I can engage in a healthier way. James Baldwin has been one of my guides in this search.
I believe that many of James Baldwin's writings are contemplative in nature. This is evident in his criticism of institutional religion, particularly Christianity, his self-awareness and self-concern, his pleas for us to do the same, his re-understanding of God and salvation, his observations about humanity, the importance of love in his writing as the ultimate connective force in the world, and his lived experience of needing an “elsewhere”— a place removed from his day-to-day life, where he could engage the world, much like a monk does. Although the traditional definition of a contemplative does not always include irreligious people, I believe there is sufficient evidence in Baldwin's work to show that he was a contemplative writer with a spirituality of his own.
I still take Baldwin’s writings with me on retreats, but more importantly than that, they live within me. I think about them as I move and live and have my being; they are a constant melody guiding the rhythm of my life.
“One must say Yes to life and embrace it wherever it is found-and it is found in terrible places…” - James Baldwin, Nothing Personal
Guesnerth Josué Perea is in his final year of the Novitiate with the Community of the Incarnation, the New Monastic Community that runs the Center for Spiritual Imagination. He is also the executive director of the afrolatin@ forum, founder and co-curator of the AfoLatine Theology Project, associate pastor of Metro Hope Church, and co-host of the Majestad Prieta Podcast. His research on AfroLatinidad has been part of various publications including Let Spirit Speak: Cultural Journeys through the African Diaspora and the Revista de Estudios Colombianos. He is the Executive Producer of the new documentary short Faith in Blackness: An Exploration of AfroLatine Spirituality.