We are kept from the experience of Spirit because our inner world is cluttered with past traumas . . . As we begin to clear away this clutter, the energy of divine light and love begins to flow through our being.
Thomas KeatingRead
Only when we can accept God as he is can we give up the desire for spiritual experiences that we can feel.
Interpretation
True acceptance of God leads to a release from the longing for tangible spiritual experiences.
This quote by Thomas Keating emphasizes that genuine acceptance of God involves surrendering the need for experiential spirituality. Instead of seeking emotional or sensory confirmations of faith, we are called to embrace the divine as it is, fostering a deeper, more authentic relationship with the divine beyond mere feelings or experiences.
In practice
This quote can be shared in a spiritual retreat to encourage deeper discussions about faith.
We are kept from the experience of Spirit because our inner world is cluttered with past traumas . . . As we begin to clear away this clutter, the energy of divine light and love begins to flow through our being.
The acceptance of all that God has given us and the willingness to let it go - to give it back to him at a moment's notice - that's true human freedom.
We rarely think of the air we breathe, yet it is in us and around us all the time. In similar fashion, the presence of God penetrates us, is all around us, is always embracing us.
For human beings, the most daunting challenge is to become fully human. For to become fully human is to become fully divine.
To become who we are as creatures made in the image and likeness of God, we have to be nothing and everything at once, since this is what God is. ... If we accept who we are, we are manifesting God and radiating Christ. The latter unfolding of the divine life within us does not need to go anywhere _x000D_ or do anything special.
If you accept the belief that baptism incorporates us in the mystical body of Christ, into the divine DNA, then you might say that the Holy Spirit is present in each of us, and thus we have the capacity for the fullness of redemption, of transformation.
The Eucharist is essential for us: it is Christ who wishes to enter our lives and fill us with his grace.
Increased spiritual strength is a gift from God which He can give when we push in His service to our limits. Through the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, our natures can be changed. Then our power to carry burdens can be increased more than enough to compensate for the increased service we will be asked to give.
When an answer I did not expect comes to a prayer which I believed I truly meant, I shrink back from it; if the burden my Lord asks me to bear be not the burden of my heart's choice, and I fret inwardly and do not welcome His will, then I know nothing of Calvary love.
I know Great Spirit is looking down upon me from above, and will hear what I say.
Those who worship and adore the Lord through the Guru's Word forget all their pain and suffering.
In using all means, seek God alone. In and through every outward thing, look only to the power of His Spirit, and the merits of His Son. Beware you do not get stuck in the work itself; if you do, it is all lost labor. Nothing short of God can satisfy your soul. Therefore, fix on Him in all, through all, and above all...Remember also to use all means as means-as ordained, not for their own sake.
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