Words are windows. They can open or close. In our spiritual path, we need words that open us to feel the Breathings of Light. A word can be the difference between seeing God, or not.
A man longed to see and hear God. He went to a hilltop; he yelled and pleaded, "Speak to me!" A bird sang. Disappointed, the man begged to hear God's voice, and all he heard were children playing in the distance. "Please, God, touch me!" he cried, and a breeze blew across his cheek. Still demoralized by God not answering, the man prayed, "God, show yourself to me!" A butterfly flew across his path. He got home convinced God had abandoned him, and his daughter ran out to greet him. He still believed God had forsaken him.
July 2015 -
Possibly, if I do not sense experience of what I have called "God," I have grown to need another means of relating with and sensing than what I had meant by "God." This is only natural, no problem at all. Possibly, Life is summoning me to an enjoyment of Life the previous concept "God" cannot contain and hinders.
I am confident some persons have emerged beyond the conventional use of "God," and they find it to no longer inspires in them what it might in others who still find the concept inspiring and relevant.
Since "God" is a concept, to cling to "God" simply does not make sense. As well, to experience the Buddha, one would not necessarily need the word Buddha. And to enjoy Christ, you would not necessarily need the word Christ. We desire the experience of Grace, and what words and ideas help, help, those that do not, do not.
Possibly, also, some ideas, even called sacred, must die from us, so that later they resurrect within us with renewed meaning. Again, this is all natural, and to care for you means I would want you to use whatever concepts would most assist you in enjoying Life. Also, whatever God is, I assume God would agree, or I would question whether such a God were truly a Lover.
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Writing and mindfulness practice for these many years has helped me to appreciate the power of words. Words open worlds, and words close worlds. One change in wording can open our eyes to a new vista.
Hence, we need not cling to words in our spiritual practice. When a word no longer works for you, why not feel free to try another one? Or a number of other words?
If you were writing a lover or friend, would you not want to choose the words that resonate with you to communicate your message? You would not want to use words that no longer inspire you just because they are the so-called right words, would you? Or because others use those words? Or some elitist group has sanctioned what words you can and cannot write? How much more in your relationship with the Sacred?
How about writing a letter to the Sacred using words you usually would not? Sense how each word feels to you? Sense any resistance? Expanding your 'sacred' vocabulary can open to a broader array of senses of the Holy. Is that not what you want - to experience as wholly as possible the sense-of-Sacredness?
*Brian's book, An Ache for Union: Poems on Oneness with God through Love, can be ordered through major online booksellers or the publisher AuthorHouse.
