In the evolution of our Living Vision experiment, we’ve done a lot of different things to deepen our sense of community. Most recently, we’ve turned to some of the spiritual practices of our ancient forbearers to connect us more profoundly to each other and to the God who is our Source.
Spiritual practices are exactly what their name implies – exercises or practices designed to nurture and develop the spirit that already dwells within all people. Quakers refer to that indwelling spirit as the “divine light” or “spark.” When we begin with that understanding or belief –- that God’s Spirit already dwells within every single human being – relationships are always relationships between equals. There is no hierarchy or pecking order. The Indian greeting or blessing “Namaste,” meaning “the Spirit in me greets the Spirit in you,” captures this sense of mutual respect that the ancient spiritual practices further engender.
The other thing I love about spiritual practices is the fact that they, like anything else that matters, require practice. They must be repeated with regularity to bear fruit. And yet, at the same time, the spiritual practices are never really about whatever fruit that they may or may not elicit. They’re more about the practice, the process, the doing. As one of my friends likes to say, for example, about the practice of silent meditation, “What this practice reveals more than anything else is how incredibly cluttered our minds are and how impossible it is to ever shut out the myriad voices drowning out the still, small voice of God.”
And so, we come. Again and again we come. On the first and third Thursday evenings of the month we come to practice, to be still…to be still and know….KNOW that we are not God. In the doing of these ancient –- and in some ways foreign – practices, we humble ourselves. We recognize our common emptiness, our collective clutter, and our shared humanity. We humble ourselves while, at the same time, boldly affirming that within each and every one of us lies that divine spark, that Imago Dei –- the image of God. And together, through these shared spiritual practices, we fan each other’s flame.
Come and join us, April 7 from 6-7:30 pm. Namaste…
