Spiritual Growth and Development

 Recently I was asked by the Library Committee of OSLC, currently restructuring our church library, to make suggestions of books on ‘spirituality’ to be acquired. I went to my own library where I have numbers of books on the subject and began deciding what books I could suggest and contribute.

To my good pleasure I found myself becoming deeply involved in rereading some of these books and excited about what this new encounter with the ‘spiritual’ material was doing to my spirit once again.

Currently I am reading PRACTICING THE PRAYER OF PRESENCE by Susan Muto and Adrian van Kaam. It is a very insightful and inspiring work which I will donate to our library. The following thoughts I have gleaned from their writings I want to share with you.

“Most people live lives, in Thoreau’s words, ‘lives of quiet desperation’, suffering from mild chronic fatigue from frustration and fearfulness. They live by the Word of God but never taste its sweetness, missing true joy. As long as we remain overly involved in functional concerns we cannot become aware of God’s grace residing in us. The human mind cannot withstand the unrelenting pressures of present day overstimulation. We need time to be at home quietly and be present to God’s mystery . . . and be free to listen to God’s still sweet voice.”

This calls us to wrestle with the ever present issue of ‘time’. It ultimately comes down to our priorities. Where on the list of ratings do you place ‘spending time with God’? I challenge you to answer that.

In my booklet, “Introduction to Spirituality” I have written that the answer to the ultimate question: “What is the purpose of my life?” is that God has put us here to bring Him pleasure. That pleasure comes when we spend time being aware of and in touch with God. It is also reciprocal. It is vital that we get that image fixed in our minds. We are here to give God pleasure! There is no greater joy to be experienced in life than the sweetness of spending time being aware of God’s presence within us and sharing our own presence with Him along with our thoughts, problems, fears and happiness.

The sense that we are being sought, cared for and profoundly loved by the Holy One is the source of extreme satisfaction and exquisite joy.

It doesn’t take a lot of ‘know how’ to spend valuable time with God. It just takes openness and willingness to let it happen -- and time.