Spiritual Lessons from a Life of Discernment

“The winds of grace are always blowing.  All we need do is raise our sails.”

Being a Quaker is hard work.  Quakers have no creed or dogma and consequently, each person is left to work out his/her own relationship with God and the world.  This is done through prayer, reflection, studying, reading the bible and other inspirational works and in conversation with friends.  The following is the result of my discernment over the course of a lifetime. 
     
Sit in Stillness and Listen for God – I’ve come to learn that everything is grounded in prayer.  I usually get into trouble when I act without prayer; when I listen more to my ego than I do for the guidance of God.  When I listen to my ego, I usually find myself setting up a false duality: It is me against you.  It is me against the world.  I have to protect myself so no one can take advantage of me.  The other default when I listen to my ego too much is that I fall into a cycle of frantic thinking.  It’s like having a sleepless night.  I want to go to sleep – but my mind keeps racing with one thought driving out another, and then another, and then another. You get the picture.  Prayer usually brings me to a calming center where I can watch (sometimes with amusement and sometimes with humility) how my thoughts can take me down a road I shouldn’t travel

​I used to pray by asking God for things: for clarity on what I’m supposed to do in life, for the safety of my family, for justice in the world.  In retrospect, my prayers were pretty much a one-way street.  I spent more time asking (urging, begging, cajoling, bargaining) than I spent listening.  Now, my prayer time is just to sit in stillness and listen.  That’s it.  This sounds simple but it takes practice and discipline.  Here is a resource for anyone wishing to explore this unique way of being in communion with the Devine.

There is That of God in Everyone – This is usually associated with a belief espoused by the Quakers.  But, I came to the Quakers because the idea that God is present within each of us is something that has been guiding me for years.  To say this in a more mystical way – I believe I am a spiritual being linked to God through my unique and eternal soul.  Pierre Teilhard de Chardin perhaps expressed this the best when he wrote “ We are not physical beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a physical experience.”

This idea that we are spiritual beings linked directly to God is what makes the contemplative prayer I discussed above so relevant.  When we sit in stillness and listen – we are not listening to a God that is somewhere “on high”.  We are listening for that part of the divine  within us.  We are tapping into the presence of God that is always available to us.  As the eastern poet Rabindranath Tagore said, “The winds of grace are always blowing.  All we need do is raise our sails.”  Sitting in stillness is how we raise our sails.

This and Thee are the Glory of God – I am an ardent sailor and I find it appropriate that I had a mystical experience on a sail boat.  Sometimes, usually in late July or August, we get a spectacular moon rising from the horizon of Lake Michigan at the same time that the sun is setting over the city.  This was such a night.  The sky was pink, the wind was warm as I stood in the back of the boat taking it all in.  Suddenly, I had a thought which was:  “This and Thee are the Glory of God.”  I was marveling at my surroundings and could easily understand the world as an expression of the glory of God.  But me?  Am I an expression of the glory of God?  It took me a many months of pondering this thought to fully accept the idea that – just like the moon rise over the lake – I am a unique expression of the glory of God.  And, so are each of you.  This is the same sentiment expressed in the Gerard Manley Hopkins poem – As Kingfishers Catch Fire.  The seminal line in the poem is “ What I do is me; for that I came.”  We are each unique and glorious and an intimate expression of the love and creativity of God.

The Link Between Prayer and Action – Prayer must lead to action.  If we are truly praying and truly listening for God’s response to our prayer, then we are led to act.  My faith tells me that the only way God moves in the world is through us.  If we aren’t grounded in prayer and working for social justice, then we are not fulfilling our spiritual mandate and we are not helping to bring forth the kingdom of God on earth.  Conversely, action that isn’t rooted in prayerful contemplation can quickly become nothing more than an ego-centric battle to win; where we are comfortable with the idea that the “ends justify the means”.  The ends do not justify the means if the means we undertake are hateful, deceitful or demeaning.  We see enough of the hate driven action for change to know that it cannot be centered on the Devine.

Evil is the Absence of Light, Not the Presence of Darkness  –  I’ve thought quite a bit about the idea of evil and the devil.  I don’t believe in the presence of an eternal evil being.  I believe that God is within each person and those who act with evil intent are people who allow their ego to drive them; people who spend little time contemplating the call of God within their own heart.  The best analogy is in nature.  Does it get dark at night because some entity of darkness descends upon the world, or does it get dark because the light of the sun is on the other side of the world and hidden to us.  It is the latter.  It is the same with the light of God in the hearts of people.

Mercy Within Mercy Within Mercy – In his book, The Signs of Jonas, Thomas Merton pens a quote that I find to be a comforting expression of God’s love and mercy.  We would all do well to live a life centered on the thought that we shall bestow mercy within mercy within mercy to all we encounter.  Here’s the quote:

“I have always known the vile as precious: for what is vile I know not at all. What was cruel has become merciful. What is now merciful was never cruel. I have always overshadowed Jonas with my mercy, and cruelty I know not at all. Have you had sight of Me, Jonas, My child? Mercy within mercy within mercy.”

So, my spiritual journey over 60 plus years has led me to this:  Sit in stillness and listen for God’s call.  Act on that call, knowing that you are loved regardless of what you do.  Don’t succumb to the idea of evil and remember that God’s mercy is afforded to each of us, just as we afford it to all others.