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The Reverend Mother urged Sister Mary Clarence to “Take the hint.” The “hint” is a God wink. If we do not see these winks throughout daily life, like a divine orchestration, it is only because we are not looking through the eyes that seek to see. Again, we rarely have a God shout. We see these God winks by looking, somewhat like a hunting dog on a trail or a detective gathering and following clues to solve a crime.
Therefore, by cultivating our spiritual senses through daily spiritual practice, we attune ourselves to discern and open to Divine Providence:
14The unspiritual self, just as it is by nature, can't receive the gifts of God's Spirit. There's no capacity for them. They seem like so much silliness. Spirit can be known only by spirit—God's Spirit and our spirits in open communion. 15Spiritually alive, we have access to everything God's Spirit is doing, and can't be judged by unspiritual critics. (I Corinthians 2, The Message)
All right, but what practical implication does this have, day to day? I quote another couple of passages:
16My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God's Spirit. Then you won't feed the compulsions of selfishness.(Galatians 5.16, The Message)
25Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. (Galatians 5.25, The Message)Or, If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. (KJV)
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Day by day we can seek to walk in the spirit, for the “spirit” in us can pick up the signals of the “Spirit,” by our being attuned to the Spirit. Then, we can “walk in the Spirit,” not walking against the Spirit.
We can walk in the Spirit, following the Divine hints that come our way, by diligence in discerning how God is working out details that confirm Her Presence and ongoing Purpose, by sensing within ourselves when we feel that our action is going with or against that Purpose, and daily offering a prayer, inviting the Divine Operating with the Universe to bring events together and persons in our path that will help fulfill our divinely-endowed Purpose.
Exercises
1. Look at one event in your life in which you can now see that God was working to bring events and persons together in a way that cannot be ascribed, in any way, to being accidental or by chance. Examine this, seeking to discern the varied God winks in the process.
2. Watch the movie “What the Bleep Do We Know!? How might the emerging descriptions of the Universe and causation agree with historical understandings of how God works in our world and lives? How might these emerging descriptions confirm our active role as co-creating with the Creator, on an on-going, daily basis?
3. For one week, begin each day, with a prayer, somewhat like the following:
Spirit of God, I pray this day, agreeing with You, to bring together those situations, events, and persons that will meet my need and help me fulfill your Purpose for me. I will seek to discern and follow, walking in Your Spirit, to cooperate fully, as best I know how, the direction these hints are leading me.
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