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What comes to mind when you hear the word “deep”? “Depth”?
Persons are amazed, sometimes awed, by deep things or deep experiences. At times we hear “He is a deep person” or “She is a deep thinker.” Regarding seeking an answer, have you heard someone tell you “Go deeper” or “Look deeper”?
“Deep things,” writes Charles Swindoll, “are intriguing.” “Deep jungles. Deep water. Deep caves and canyons. Deep thoughts and conversations.” (Intimacy with the Divine)
We are lured by depth, spiritually. Something about going deeper spiritually intrigues us. The word I most use for this depth is intimacy. In this Intimacy a new experience of emptying allows a new experience of filling. This process goes on, repeating itself. Ironically, emptiness, even though it can be disorienting and disturbing, is a healthy part of loving more deeply.
“There is nothing like depth,” observes Swindoll, “to make us dissatisfied with superficial, shallow things.” Dissatisfaction with lack of depth signifies spiritual growth and summons to greater depth. Dissatisfaction is an essential, repeated prelude to moving deeper in our relationship with Spirit, or any relationship.
I recall a visit to a deep, wide chasm. This was a big crater and was covered with white sand. Being a little guy of about age three, I was afraid to move too closely to the edge. The sight awed and frightened me. I knew that if I fell in I would be killed by the fall. My maternal grandfather took hold of a little pine tree. He extended out over the boundary, getting a better look. I thought that was courageous and was scared just looking at him hanging over the chasm.
Wherever we are on the Journey, we get glimpses of the depths. We have moments of being extended over greater depths or we can have intuitions of the potentiality of deeper Intimacy with Love. Often, we go looking for a deeper Intimacy with the Beloved, for we, in our deepest Self, are ready for the challenge of a closer, profounder, more whole Intimacy.
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So, as you grow spiritually, remember the role of dissatisfaction. This dissatisfaction can come in many ways. You might become discontented in a relationship, a job, a hobby, what you read, the way you are spending your time, … You may become discontented in your devotional time with God or experience of the community of faith. You may sense a pervasive feeling of discontentment with life, your life, generally. Do not berate yourself. Explore, prayerfully, that your deepest Self might be calling you to deeper depths, which will entail some changes. Indeed, fortunate are you if you have the sensitivity to experience dissatisfaction as a sign of calling to deeper Intimacy.
Remember that there is a cost to going deeper with Spirit. Going deeper might mean rearranging your life. Such a move can mean the loss of some friendships, a geographical move, or a vocational change. Likewise, Spirit might challenge your prejudices, which can be reflected in your needing to reevaluate some of your beliefs or moving into reading some materials on religion and spirituality that you would not have read before.
That is okay, for the losses will be replaced with what fits your obedience to the summons to deeper Intimacy. For example, you might read in areas you would not have before, but you will find Spirit feeding your soul more wholly through those writings. Likewise, new friends will replace old friends, for persons at your spiritual depth will be drawn to you and you to them. And, for those who are single, growing spiritually can entail the loss of a romantic relationship. That is okay, though it might be very painful. Would you want to marry someone who cannot share your sense of spiritual urgency to grow into ever-more, deeper depth with Love? Spirit can lead you to meet someone who can compliment you in your Journey. For those who are married, one partner moving to a deeper spirituality can create crisis in a marriage. Such a situation needs to be handled with patience and spiritual discernment, so that the one growing spiritually does not use spiritual growth to excuse unfaithfulness to the marriage or an unwise decision to end the marriage over lack of spiritual compatibility.
Spiritual Exercise
How in your past has God called you to deeper Intimacy? Are you experiencing discontent in your life, now? In what areas of life are you experiencing discontent? Could it be that this is Spirit calling you to a deeper Intimacy?
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