*Melody Beattie. Journey to the Heart. January 30, "Warm Up."

Willing into connection - what I call withness - is a spiritual art, a devotional practice. This is in the context of understanding relationships are spiritual practice, whether that relationship is with a person, group, or Divine Presence.

Yes, as we go deeper in Love with Love, the separation between relating with Presence and others dissolves more and more. I once had a sharp separation between withness with Spirit and being with others. Now, that is not so. There is no essential difference between withness with the Divine and someone else. Either is prayer, a moment in Love. I have powerful experiences of Mystical Grace with both.

This frees me from an over-commitment to physical solitude and to times set aside. Sure, I need these. I can enjoy balance, however. I do not have to be upset when my time with Spirit is not as much for having to spend more time with others. I find others and Spirit, Spirit and others, equally in both.

Yet, if I neglect time alone with Presence, my time with others suffers from that lack. I will not be able to be as strong a conduit of Grace. And if I neglect time with others, my time with Spirit will suffer, for I will be quenching the Loving that Grace Itself is.

The late Gerald G. May, in The Awakened Heart, tells of a friend's determination to remain in the Sense of Presence:

During a recent retreat, a friend of mine had to leave to attend a business meeting. He tried to maintain the sense of presence he had had at the retreat throughout the meeting. He thought he had been able to do it, and was quite grateful until a few hours later when he was beset with feelings of rage, abandonment, and fear. In trying to hold on, he had forged a falsehood and not allowed his natural responsiveness to emerge. When he finally relaxed his repressive charade, a deluge of negativity engulfed him.

May speaks of balance we nurture in spiritual awareness: "When stretching and yielding flow together in harmony, willingness is freed, consecration is empowered, love unfettered, fear conquered."

Let us apply this harmony to meditation. For meditation is practicing this flow. When we are in silence, we can say we are open. Open means just that: open. We are not striving. We are not pushing. We are not pulling. We are receptive. In other words, our will is directed toward an openness to Spirit. Yet, if we are forceful with the will, trying to use will to coerce something into experience, will has become willfulness.

There is, in May's words, a natural responsiveness. In this, we are not trying to be spiritual, get revelations, hear locutions, see visions, ... We are simply inviting Presence. We are being with and in Being, naturally.

How does this relate into all our life? Well, for one, it shows in relationships. Have you ever worked hard to love someone? Did it work? True Love is not something you work hard at. You are naturally open to give and receive. You want to give and receive. You enjoy giving and receiving. True Love is simply organic, natural. You do not force, push, strain - Love flows.

If you love persons, you want to give time, energy, attention, presence, ... You enjoy the withness. You may even hurt from apartness. If I said, "I really love her, but I don't want to be open to her. I don't have time to relax and be with her," is that not a contradiction?

So, we could say prayer, meditation, and all forms of devotion are expressions of Loving. This is natural.

Since the nature of Life reflects the nature of the Giver of Life, then, we can conclude some things about Divine Presence by looking at our naturally sacred desires. Do you not get joyful when someone lovingly gives you something?

Likewise, Divine Presence. The Sacred is open, receptive, and natural with us each. Sacredness wants to enjoy withness with you and me. Sacredness is not a static idea. Presence lives, gives, and receives.

So, relax. Be aware of where you are, what you are feeling, what you want to give, and what you want to receive. This is not being selfish. This is being godly.

Yet, do not seek to force things with Grace, or others. Divine Life is always by invitation. If you cannot give and receive as you long to in a relationship, accept such and move on, or seek to address the matter with the person.

If you push persons away due to willfulness, seek to address that with the Divine. Pray to relax and watch as the Loving you need flows into your life, without your straining to find or get it.

And with Grace Itself, all this applies. Learn to enjoy simply Being. Practice being quiet and receptive to Loving. The ebb and flow of Presence will be clear. If Spirit seems absent, sense into the absence, for even that is Presence manifesting. If Spirit seems close, relax into that, not seeking to control, manipulate, or own such.

This, of course, goes back to a central theme in my work. The thesis is: Surrender is central in spiritual Life. This does not mean not trying. Willingness implies a natural degree of effort. You do not give or receive without effort. Yet, when effort becomes effort-full, we have moved from graced willingness to stubborn willfulness.

The story goes that Shams, the Sufi, longed to find a like soul he could share soul to soul. He searched for years. He met Rumi. Here, with Rumi, Shams found someone he could share Divine Love with, and at an intimate level of soul to soul. Rumi found the same. Many of Rumi's poems refer to Shams as an embodiment of God's Love. When you read such poetry, Rumi is not being blasphemous, he is using Shams as a symbol and means of Divine Grace.

This leads us to a final matter. We cannot control the ways Spirit will manifest to us, either directly or through other persons. In your openness, you may come to know the Divine in new ways. This may not fit in your formal image of how Spirit is supposed to be for you. Yet, there is so much more to Spirit than you have experienced and been told. If you want more of Sacredness, your willingness and receptivity to more must be present, or you will block the manifestation.

1) Go into quiet meditation. Do not seek any experience, only the experience of being open to either a sense of divine presence or a lack of it. If you sense a lack of presence, sense into it, to discover the quality of that lack is a presence.

2) Choose to be fully present to one person today. Do not be thinking about your response to him or her. Simply, naturally, be present and sense the presence of the other person. Experience this as experiencing the Sacred, as prayer.

3) One way to be with is verbal. One of the most powerful things to say is "I love you." Tell someone today.

*Church of Panagia Paraportiani, Susan Hall Frazier, Flickr

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Persons can go to YouTube, Lotus of the Heart, to see a 3-Minute Introduction and Welcome to Lotus of the Heart. Also, a welcome video for JesusSpirituality, a ministry of Lotus of the Heart, is at its channel by that name, also. The welcome videos are the featured videos and will automatically begin playing upon accessing the channels.

*Eye Candy!, Joethakur, Flickr

* * * CLOSING BLESSING * * *

Namaste'

The Sacred in Me bows to the Sacred in You

OM Shanti Shanti Shanti OM

©Arem Nahariim-Samadhi, 2012. Arem can be contacted at 77ahavah77@gmail.com .