Every great activity and event, every true encounter with the Divine must begin by our turning off the mind and turning within to that place where true wisdom resides. Ideas are born in the quiet of the mind. Nature gives us the model for our spiritual endeavors, teaching us to silence outer confusion and noise so Spirit's soft voice can be heard. We encounter the Divine in the stillness at the center of our being.
Spiritual longing is a sort of loneliness for an unknown yet deeply perceived presence. Some call the presence God; some call it peace; some call it consciousness; some call it Love. It's source rests in the well of our own hearts. When we slow down, quiet the mind, and allow ourselves to feel hungry for something that we do not understand, we are dipping into the abundant well of spiritual longing. If we want to open to doors to life's love and God's peace, we have to learn how to fearlessly explore the full terrain of our human longing.
Take heart! Humanity is wise and, in its rich diversity, possessed of vast reservoirs of creativity, inspiration, and spiritual energy. Be of good cheer. For this is an intentional, life enhancing universe with LOVE as its vital force.
Love has given humans very real gifts. The chief one is the divine indwelling, God's own presence within us, sustaining us by this creative action and embracing us, or trying to heal or transform us through the redeeming love that is distinctively motherly. As the spiritual journey progresses, one comes face to face with the divine presence.
Warm loving greetings from the northern freeze! We live so we may learn to love; we love so we may learn to live. Mutual reciprocity. Delve into the Eternal Silence deep within your heart, home of the Divine Guest. There you will find Love and learn lessons of living. Blessed be!
Both of our families had ben crippled to some degree by prejudice, personal trauma, and tragedy, but in the most important ways both ranches had endured. So it wasn't what we did for a living that counted, nor what kind of china we dined on, nor what our houses looked like. Nor, in this one sense, did our skin color even matter very much. What counted most through the generations far more than any other factor, was how we treated those we loved and how well we loved That seemed the transcendent lesson or moral my search had revealed
At the center of our being is a point of nothingness, a point or spark which belongs entirely to God. It is in everybody and if we could see it we would see those billions of points of light coming together in the face and blaze of a sun.
~ from CONJECTURES OF A GUILTY BYSTANDER by Thomas Merton
The oak tree in full foliage praises the Creator, but in order to become the oak tree, the acorn has to open in the dark. Its roots have to reach deep into the earth as its branches stretch toward the light. There in the dark the shell has to crack. Only when I let go of my protective shell, when I find the crack makes me vulnerable, that opens me to the Other, only then will the night be radiant, only then will the dark be light... The spark is in everyone's soul: the spark of our Creator shining in the dark. This spark is ours to tend, to take care of until it flares into a brilliant flame, lit by God.
~ from CIRCLING TO THE CENTER by Susan M. Tiberghien
I said to the one who stood at the Gate of the Year, Give me a light that I might go safely out into the darkness. The gatekeeper replied, Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be more to you than a light and safer than a known way.
