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How can anything be anything but good that invites persons
to slow down, center,
and be receptive to Grace
* * *
Why are so many persons who speak of "God"
afraid to be alone with "God"
simply and bare silence
not even with thought of any
holy words or sacred images
naked before "God"
not even a thought of "God"
coming between one and God
in-Love
with-God
* * *
And, yes, one can as easily seek escape unhealthily by engagement with the outer world as by retreat apart. One can escape himself or herself, including Grace, as well, by being actively engaged in doing good or pursuing a religious or spiritual life.
Again, we are each on a pilgrimage, if we choose, that is intensely communal and intensely intimate to oneself, at the same time. We need awareness to respect that the way unfolds in sometimes apparently contradictory ways, and while there is one way, there are many diverse ways in which that unfolds. We need discernment to be receptive to how the way may change for us; for example, we may go through times of being drawn to more outer engagement, other times to more retreat to be alone and apart.
* * *
Since a child, I have been felt drawn to these hiding places, these hideaway spaces. For many years, after being vowed to a contemplative life, I avoided busy places and much-peopled places as much as possible. Over time, slowly, I began to feel more at home in this world, more drawn to the outside and places with others. No longer as distracted by the movements and sounds of nature or persons, I sensed a marriage of inner and outer had occurred in the Withinness. Possibly, this "many years" would have been fewer years, if I had been in a context that encouraged this inscape that weds the seen and unseen in spontaneous awareness of the undivided Life.
* * *
This being drawn closer to Grace apart, in silence, is by Grace, and the more I am not present, the more Grace appears. Grace appears for I am made more receptive to more subtle manifestations of Grace. Grace Itself, however, is always fully present in and to Itself. Grace is as fully present to one kneeling in silence and awe alone as engaging with others at a noisy coffee shop. Yet, fidelity to times alone, in quiet, will likely mean I will be more perceptive to the subtle presence of Spirit at the coffee shop and, also, my sharing with the others being not merely a sharing of persons, but a communion of spirits.
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