Author: Nick Hilton

Spiritual truth must be shared in plain language. God is not a concept to be grasped by interpretation or by the painstaking deciphering of cryptic messages. We must use stories, examples, and our own experiences, like the parables of Jesus, conveying in simple, practical terms how we are to relate to the Higher Power and one another.

It is not an intellectual exercise, but a matter of the heart, how our knowledge of God should affect our thoughts, words and actions. This is not to say that the Truth is self-evident; but it should not require a glossary or a practical translation into everyday language.

In meditation our intention is not so much to realize God’s Presence as it is to become aware of what is not God: namely, the stream of personal mental constructs that continually distract us from the Presence. The ground of our awareness, or what we call consciousness, is the fullness of the ultimate reality, and meditation is the act of remaining in it, as if we have walked out of a forest and into a clearing.

We receive inspiration from the Source of love and wisdom not so that we will contain it, but that we may pass it along. We are not repositories of Grace, but more like electrical transformers, strengthening and redirecting, clarifying and amplifying the spiritual charge with our own thoughts, experiences and words. To continue this analogy, we may say that if we are not connected to another receptive soul in the sequence, that the power will not be alive in ourselves.

To pray for things, for outcomes, for changes we wish God to make — all this is to demonstrate our faith. In doing so we are affirming our devotion and reliance on God. When the changes do not occur, when our prayers seem to go unanswered, however, our faith must remain. Instead of asking, then, at that point we are the ones being asked.

The Old Testament God is transcendent of His creation, directing and organizing the activities of His universe from somewhere outside of it. Some other religious traditions describe an immanent God, suffusing and inhabiting every atom of the universe. It may seem that we must choose between these ideas.

In Truth, God is both immanent and transcendent. A fuller understanding would be that there is an organizing, creative force as well as a spiritual unity of all that is created. This Power is both eternal and immediate.

Our everyday spiritual work is to realize God as both the formative source of everything and the life-energy within it; both the Creator and the heartbeat.

My soul was a rhinoceros — unruly, dangerous, obtrusive and stubborn — a giant physical presence with an undersized mind. This version of the spiritual me was my constant companion, although I was most often unable to harness or control it. Through the development of my understanding of life, through persistent practice of prayer and meditation, my soul is transformed. I am spiritually a hummingbird now. Easy, light, quick, observant and sensitive. I do not have to try to control the hummingbird; I have only to acknowledge it is there.

Despite the constant distractions in our lives, the difficulties and the pleasures we experience this day, we must learn to have our minds “tuned in” to the eternal, as if Truth were a radio frequency and our minds a receiver, always tuned in, no matter what we are busy with. This begins with the intentional conditioning of our conscious minds in meditation and then continues subconsciously as we move through our days. Gradually the signal becomes more distinct, a stronger presence, and we can hear it whenever we try, just by listening.

Prayer is practice of a skill we will always wish to improve; namely, the ability to feel the presence of the Higher Power throughout our day. The more we practice, the better we become at allowing God to provide us with the things which give our lives meaning and fulfillment. This communication brings health, happiness and abundance by tuning our minds to the Source of the glorious fortune that our lives are meant for.

What a joy it is to know that my life has a purpose! I am born to be a part of the sanctified universe, and once I realize that, I am able to participate in the unfolding of Truth, Beauty, Life, Love, Wisdom. This is the entirety of my life’s experience. It is simply a matter of remembering to choose this purpose that is my difficulty; but once I have experienced the happiness of knowing it I am able to return to it emotionally and to remain true to my purpose from time to time, throughout my day.

The image of the Blessed Virgin that permeates the Christian faith is a powerful force for our spiritual understanding, balancing the industrious and forceful male principal of classic biblical imagery. For the universe is indeed made up of equivalent forces: procreative and dynamic as well as receptive, nurturing, passive. We perceive the Mother of God as our sensitive and loving advocate; in this do we have a fuller representation of the Divine reality.