God is above us and yet close to each one of us. His love surrounds us and indwells us. We may aspire to center our lives on God without realizing that his spirit is the center of our very being. Awareness of the indwelling presence of the eternal God adds meaning to the thought that spiritual living is centered living.
Countless persons have discovered an inner source of energy, power, wisdom, insight, peace, love, joy, creativity, purpose, and guidance. Despite differences in vocabulary, concept, context, and practice, many religions recognize what is here called the indwelling spirit of God. Hinduism speaks of the atman, the (eternal, spirit) self. Buddhism calls it Buddha nature. Judaism speaks of the spirit in man, “the candle of the Lord.” Jesus proclaimed, “The kingdom of God is within you.” The Qur’an tells, “We created man. We know the promptings of his soul, and are closer to him than his jugular vein.” Knowing the inner life deeply, the Chinese philosopher Mencius (371-289 B.C.E.) sketched a spiritual path. “A noble man steeps himself in the Way (Tao) because he wishes to find it in himself. When he finds it in himself, he will be at ease in it; when he is at ease in it, he can draw deeply upon it; when he can draw deeply upon it, he finds its source wherever he turns.” Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, wrote, “Behold the Lord within yourself”; “Thou art concealed within”; “Thy light shines in every heart.” It is encouraging to see evidence of harmony on such a central truth.
How do you seek to improve your communication with the divine spirit within?
Seeking to improve communications with the spirit within has been a continuous process in my life. As I look back over my life and think about this process, there were several steps involved in initiating conscious communication and in improving the quality of that communication.
First, there was the intellectual recognition that the spirit was there. I became intellectual aware of this spirit when I seriously returned to the Christian faith after a long absence from it following the tragic death of my mother when I was fourteen.
Second begin the process of determining how I could move from the intellectual consciousness of recognizing and communicating with the this spirit. It was here that I recognized the intellectual concept of faith as the means by which I could communicate with this spirit.
Since I was morally and spiritually desperate at this time, I did not linger very long in the intellectual phases of faith and the recognition of the divine spirit. I was more than ready to attempt communicate with this spirit since I had been told and believed this was the answer to my dilemma. I began to pray immediately asking for moral and spiritual help. I experienced some relief from my difficulty which encouraged me to continue the process of praying.
Third, I felt morally and spiritually secure in initial reaching out to this spirit, but was not sure that I would continue to feel secure. There were so many phases of moral and spiritual difficulties that I continued to experience. It seemed that before I could complete one moral and spiritual experience, another one was already beginning. So to guarantee that I would remain in this secure space, I dedicated and consecrated my will to doing the Father’s will. This decision guaranteed that I would receive an uninterrupted supply of divine values and meanings
Fourth, after making that dedication and consecration, I began to experience an unshakeable sense of security and hope. And this was based upon my sincerity and trust in the Father’s goodness. I began to experience increased revelations of truth from my routine experiences. I share one such recent episode below. I continue to make verbal petition to the Father but begin to realize more and more that the verbal expressions were reflections of my soul’s desire which was the communication with the divine spirit.
Fifth I began to engage in further study of what was known of this spirit. The New Testament instructed me that Jesus was the way, that whosoever had seen him, had seen the Father, that he and the Father were one. He said that no one came to the Father except by him. He said that all who believed in him would become the dwelling place of his Father and his spirit. So I began to think about Jesus as being the revelation of the Father, and immediately I became conscious of the ideas and ideals of his divine character. So this was what the Father was like. Now my prayer life took on a different phase, as I realize that when I prayed to the Father, if I wanted to know what he was personally like, I visualized his Son, Jesus.
As time continued to pass, I became more and more aware of this divine presence. This was a presence of love, and the more I practiced this love, the more I became aware of the impulses and urges of this divine spirit. As I continue to pray and worship, and serve, there is this ever increasing sense that I am become more and more like this spirit in my moral and spiritual experiences. I have realized that the best way to improve communication with the divine spirit is through loving service along with the dedication and consecration to doing the Father’s will.
And this sense of communication with the divine spirit continues to increase despite the doubting of the material mind.
Example of recent revelation of truth from the divine spirit. The other day as I was returning from my prayer and worship walk, as I walked by the side of the house before entering the door, I heard a chirping sound to my right side. I looked towards the sound, and I saw a baby bird who had fallen out of the nest. He was hopping along with his mouth open. I stopped and pondered what I could do to save this bird, but was forced to conclude there was nothing I could do. I did not know where his nest was.
As I pondered the meanings of this, two levels of truth emerged in my mind. One was that good parents put into place protective measures that are designed to protect their children, and as long as the children remain within those protective measures, they are relatively secure. But if they undermine the measures, they are in an analogous way similar to the bird who has fallen out of the nest. They lose the protection of their parents. The other truth refers to our relationship with the heavenly Father. As long as we abide by his will, our souls are safe and secure, forever protected from any harm or danger.
The process of improving communication with this spirit continues with the spirit of Jesus showing me how. Always will I know him because I trust him.
Dr Perry
Beloved Dr. Perry, what a privilege to hear the remarkable story of your spiritual development! And you have such an organized mind! Thank you for taking the time to share this with us. Quite a legacy.
Seeking to improve communications with the spirit within has been a continuous process in my life. As I look back over my life and think about this process, there were several steps involved in initiating conscious communication and in improving the quality of that communication.
First, there was the intellectual recognition that the spirit was there. I became intellectual aware of this spirit when I seriously returned to the Christian faith after a long absence from it following the tragic death of my mother when I was fourteen.
Second begin the process of determining how I could move from the intellectual consciousness of recognizing and communicating with the this spirit. It was here that I recognized the intellectual concept of faith as the means by which I could communicate with this spirit.
Since I was morally and spiritually desperate at this time, I did not linger very long in the intellectual phases of faith and the recognition of the divine spirit. I was more than ready to attempt communicate with this spirit since I had been told and believed this was the answer to my dilemma. I began to pray immediately asking for moral and spiritual help. I experienced some relief from my difficulty which encouraged me to continue the process of praying.
Third, I felt morally and spiritually secure in initial reaching out to this spirit, but was not sure that I would continue to feel secure. There were so many phases of moral and spiritual difficulties that I continued to experience. It seemed that before I could complete one moral and spiritual experience, another one was already beginning. So to guarantee that I would remain in this secure space, I dedicated and consecrated my will to doing the Father’s will. This decision guaranteed that I would receive an uninterrupted supply of divine values and meanings
Fourth, after making that dedication and consecration, I began to experience an unshakeable sense of security and hope. And this was based upon my sincerity and trust in the Father’s goodness. I began to experience increased revelations of truth from my routine experiences. I share one such recent episode below. I continue to make verbal petition to the Father but begin to realize more and more that the verbal expressions were reflections of my soul’s desire which was the communication with the divine spirit.
Fifth I began to engage in further study of what was known of this spirit. The New Testament instructed me that Jesus was the way, that whosoever had seen him, had seen the Father, that he and the Father were one. He said that no one came to the Father except by him. He said that all who believed in him would become the dwelling place of his Father and his spirit. So I began to think about Jesus as being the revelation of the Father, and immediately I became conscious of the ideas and ideals of his divine character. So this was what the Father was like. Now my prayer life took on a different phase, as I realize that when I prayed to the Father, if I wanted to know what he was personally like, I visualized his Son, Jesus.
As time continued to pass, I became more and more aware of this divine presence. This was a presence of love, and the more I practiced this love, the more I became aware of the impulses and urges of this divine spirit. As I continue to pray and worship, and serve, there is this ever increasing sense that I am become more and more like this spirit in my moral and spiritual experiences. I have realized that the best way to improve communication with the divine spirit is through loving service along with the dedication and consecration to doing the Father’s will.
And this sense of communication with the divine spirit continues to increase despite the doubting of the material mind.
Example of recent revelation of truth from the divine spirit. The other day as I was returning from my prayer and worship walk, as I walked by the side of the house before entering the door, I heard a chirping sound to my right side. I looked towards the sound, and I saw a baby bird who had fallen out of the nest. He was hopping along with his mouth open. I stopped and pondered what I could do to save this bird, but was forced to conclude there was nothing I could do. I did not know where his nest was.
As I pondered the meanings of this, two levels of truth emerged in my mind. One was that good parents put into place protective measures that are designed to protect their children, and as long as the children remain within those protective measures, they are relatively secure. But if they undermine the measures, they are in an analogous way similar to the bird who has fallen out of the nest. They lose the protection of their parents. The other truth refers to our relationship with the heavenly Father. As long as we abide by his will, our souls are safe and secure, forever protected from any harm or danger.
The process of improving communication with this spirit continues with the spirit of Jesus showing me how. Always will I know him because I trust him.
Dr Perry
Beloved Dr. Perry, what a privilege to hear the remarkable story of your spiritual development! And you have such an organized mind! Thank you for taking the time to share this with us. Quite a legacy.
I have been away/preoccupied for several weeks now and am happy to catch up with this conversation. Apropos your question for this strand, I can only say that, in my experience, genuine communication with God is, typically, a dangerous business. For me, there is always a transformation and that usually involves some kind of personal displacement. After the awe and wonder comes the ” gob-smacked” realization that I’m involved in a dialog with Someone uncomfortably close and VERY BIG.
After these touchings become a recognizable product of mindful prayer, one learns that a response in this ongoing dialog requires both volition, in terms of the wil to respond, and capacity. Because, by personality, my will seems strong, it is my capacity to ‘say back’ that I find I need to work on. Intuition is the basis of that capacity (the “indwelling” you speak of) and a discipline, or ‘language,’ of prayer is the deepening of that strata of capacity.
Recently I have had the occasion to partipate in a conversation of compassion with a neighbor on need. I was a minor voice in a minor key as part of that conversation (involving a young person’s behavioral problems). By that I mean, I was neither the authoritative voice nor the “cheerleader”. My small part, almost nothing more than a witness for concern, struck in me a responsive chord within my ongoing ‘communication’ with God.
I find that genuine speech between me and my Creator, outside of meditation and lectio divina, is almost always IMMEDIATE, interpersonal, and resonant of service to need, usually another’s.
Jesus taught this so simply!
See my reply attached to your p.s. in the next comment.
I have been away/preoccupied for several weeks now and am happy to catch up with this conversation. Apropos your question for this strand, I can only say that, in my experience, genuine communication with God is, typically, a dangerous business. For me, there is always a transformation and that usually involves some kind of personal displacement. After the awe and wonder comes the ” gob-smacked” realization that I’m involved in a dialog with Someone uncomfortably close and VERY BIG.
After these touchings become a recognizable product of mindful prayer, one learns that a response in this ongoing dialog requires both volition, in terms of the wil to respond, and capacity. Because, by personality, my will seems strong, it is my capacity to ‘say back’ that I find I need to work on. Intuition is the basis of that capacity (the “indwelling” you speak of) and a discipline, or ‘language,’ of prayer is the deepening of that strata of capacity.
Recently I have had the occasion to partipate in a conversation of compassion with a neighbor on need. I was a minor voice in a minor key as part of that conversation (involving a young person’s behavioral problems). By that I mean, I was neither the authoritative voice nor the “cheerleader”. My small part, almost nothing more than a witness for concern, struck in me a responsive chord within my ongoing ‘communication’ with God.
I find that genuine speech between me and my Creator, outside of meditation and lectio divina, is almost always IMMEDIATE, interpersonal, and resonant of service to need, usually another’s.
Jesus taught this so simply!
See my reply attached to your p.s. in the next comment.
By the way, the dangerous part of communication with God to which I refer in my initial response is the RISK of existential self-displacement. (Not the idea of it, the fact of it!) This, of course, always effects a wonderful peace in due course, but at the time, it always feels like jumping off a very high cliff. [And then, of course, one never knows where/how one will land…]
Elaine, wonderful to hear your voice with us again. A warm welcome back to you. What a profound and moving blog. Leaves me speechless in terms of any “philosophy of living”-type response. Just gratitude and quiet and a yearning to re-read and savor. Thank you.
By the way, the dangerous part of communication with God to which I refer in my initial response is the RISK of existential self-displacement. (Not the idea of it, the fact of it!) This, of course, always effects a wonderful peace in due course, but at the time, it always feels like jumping off a very high cliff. [And then, of course, one never knows where/how one will land…]
Elaine, wonderful to hear your voice with us again. A warm welcome back to you. What a profound and moving blog. Leaves me speechless in terms of any “philosophy of living”-type response. Just gratitude and quiet and a yearning to re-read and savor. Thank you.