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We know and we believe that God loves us. God is love. And anyone who loves others is in God and God is in him.
*1 John 4.16 (WE)
Love is a vibration, older than humanity itself. But the principle of directness is very human: we go where our deepest desires take us.
*Deepak Chopra. Life After Death.
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St. John of the Cross, in The Dark Night, tells of the cleansing darkness of passive contemplation from God - when Spirit so touches spirit, infusing the person with God's Self, so that all faculties and affections, natural and spiritual, are put to sleep (so to speak) -, noting the person feels "unworthy of God." Yet, the self "possesses an energy bold enough to go out to be joined with God." But why all this?
The reason is that since love now imparts a force by which the soul loves authentically, and since it is the nature of love to seek to be united, joined, equaled, and assimilated to the loved object in order to be perfected in the good of love, the soul hungers and thirsts for this union or perfection of love still unattained. And the strength love has now bestowed, and by which the will has become impassioned, makes this inflamed will daring. [But seeing] the intellect is not illumined but in darkness, the soul feels unworthy and knows it is miserable.
The purpose of contemplative awareness - if with such we can speak of purpose -, the life of living in Spirit in union, is only Love. Love is both pushing from the distant past and pulling toward the horizon of an unseen future; yet, Love is as present as the touch of your breathing moving in and out of the nostrils. This is Energy, This is God.
Therefore, as we grow in spiritual union, we grow to discern more easily the "vibrational frequencies" of other persons. This is a gift, but this is alarming and disconcerting at times.
Love does entail an intelligent directness, giving discernment of the soul of others. While spiritual Love flows in all directions, to all persons, you are to choose wisely whom to allow your soul to bond with at a deep, soul level.
The Spirit of Love, by its very nature and work, divides, even those whom we might feel ought to be closest to us:
35I came to turn sons against their fathers, daughters against their mothers, and daughters-in-law against their mothers-in-law. 36Your worst enemies will be in your own family..
37If you love your father or mother or even your sons and daughters more than me, you are not fit to be my disciples.
*Matthew10.35-37 (CEV)
This is to say Spirit claims all of you. Then, should you be surprised that many by natural affection to you will have no idea of what is happening when you begin taking seriously this ultimate claim on your being and life? I have seen this problem in otherwise, apparently, healthy marriages. And, we need not assume this cannot occur between two persons, one who is deeply religious alone and one who is deeply spiritual and deeply religious. And, should we be surprised that much conflict in churches and religion, generally, is because many claiming faith are not spiritual, have not submitted to the process of this Love above all else?
You must "listen" to your soul here. I saw a beautiful snake in my yard several days ago; I loved it, really, but I did not go up and kiss it.
In the spiritual Life, we naturally begin and end relationships with persons of like spiritual frequency - so to speak. Be alert to how you are drawn to others. Learn to discern when your personality is drawn to a person and when your higher Self is drawn by a spiritual cord of like mind and heart.
Do not cease to Love all, while not feeling guilty of your need to open your heart in Love to some persons and guard it from persons who cannot share it or who will abuse it - for they would be threatened by it and would, therefore, abuse it, and possibly seek to "kill it."
These latter are persons who will so diminish you that there will be little self of you left, only a self made in their image and to their liking. Be firm with yourself in choosing close relationships with persons who can nurture you and you them along the Path of Spirit.
Be gracious to all, close to few. Talk with many, treasure your soul enough to share it deeply with only those able to appreciate it. Cherish aloneness above the company of anyone who cannot truly appreciate your spiritual Life.
I speak from much experience, and much pain, on this matter. Those are my earned credentials. Now, I love and respect what the Spirit is doing in me too much to make it too available for others to "see." The availability I offer generally hides much more than it "tells," even when it might not seem so to those uninitiated into the Wonders of spiritual Life but inundated with the fleeting pleasures and wearying boredoms of conventional religion. My unveilings are a whisper of a heavenly shout to awaken the heart to Love, to bliss that can hold pain and laughter in one Ecstasy: but, that is all - a whisper, whispering whisper.
Last, you will be able to serve all persons much better, when you refuse to exhaust your efforts at deep spiritual love on anyone who cannot receive it. Therefore, being selective in this matter is not selfish, but altruistic.
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*The quote from St. John of the Cross is from The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross. Trans. K. Kavanaugh and O. Rodriguez.
*Charitable contributions would be appreciated to assist Brian in continuing his ministry. For contributions, contact Brian at barukhattah@embarqmail.com .
*Brian's book of spiritual love poetry, An Ache for Union: Oneness with God through Love, can be ordered through major booksellers or the Cokesbury on-line store, cokesbury.com .
*Brian K. Wilcox, a United Methodist Pastor, lives in Southwest Florida. He is a vowed member of Greenbough House of Prayer, a contemplative Christian community in South Georgia. He lives a contemplative life and seeks to inspire others to enjoy a more intimate relationship with Christ. Brian advocates for a spiritually-focused, experiential Christianity and renewal of the Church through addressing the deeper spiritual needs and longings of persons.
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