Author: Nick Hilton

It is one thing to have God in our life, quite another to be able to express the experience. What does it feel like to know God?  What does it mean? How can we put this intensely personal truth into common language?

Yet being able to express our heart’s truth, our salvation and our strength is what makes it real to us. It is necessary for us to try to verbalize our understanding, to somehow objectify it, in order to find a place in our minds to store it. Also, knowledge of God demands to be shared with others; it is an essential human need. It is the way His grace increases in the world. We have to find ways to speak of God that make sense so that we may spread the Word.

God’s Grace strengthen me. God’s Grace comfort me, ease my pain, allay my fears, charge my body with Your powerful energy. Clear my mind, O God, and open my heart with courage to accept, to assist, and to forgive. I call on you as your loving, wayward child, confident of your guidance, your truth, and your eternal Presence.

Pity the atheist, the chief attribute of whose God is that He does not exist. The atheist has decided he knows what God is, and that this concept (of a supreme being) is impossible. This is certainly a daring intellectual feat, although the reward of it is hard to value. What joy is possible in a disordered, unsanctified and meaningless world?

Each person has a God of his or her understanding. Their relationship with this God, the advantages of having a living God in one’s life, the peaceful order and infinite beauty of creation, plus the guide to happiness that belief in God offers — all of the human history of religion — are the benefits of this understanding. It’s true, we make up our own God; it is His will that we should. Belief is simply a realization that He does exist and a lifelong dedication to having a relationship with Him. It is not an intellectual exercise.

Everything I do, everywhere I go, every moment of my life, God is with me, around me, within me. I can live in peace when I am aware of His presence; when I am unaware of Him I am not living fully. Unity with the Creative Intelligence eliminates fear and loneliness, gives purpose and meaning, and makes my life a sacred journey.

“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” James 5:16

We who are lucky enough to be in a community of like-minded souls are able to give and receive wisdom and consolation, to guide one another and so be guided, and to unburden ourselves of our guilt over faults and mistakes we have made. The bond of love we share protects and strengthens us. We realize we are unable to live alone successfully, blessed that we no longer need to.

The secret of successful living is the practice of the Presence of God. This manner of living is difficult at first because we are naturally distracted by the world and by our cascading thoughts. But if we can sense the pure vibration of creation always in our hearts; if we can remember that absence of distraction we achieve in meditation, then we can experience the Presence. This Presence is a benevolent, restorative silence which guides and reassures, teaches and inspires.

What is our responsibility to others? We are not necessarily called to do great works or to perform miracles, but we can improve the whole world by being consciously and deliberately joyful, with a positive, optimistic attitude toward everyone we encounter. Instead of waiting or expecting to be welcomed or acknowledged, in every social situation our personality should be graceful, warm and encouraging. This is what is known as being “the salt of the earth.”

When I perceive beauty in nature I am recognizing the harmony among the multiplicity of things. A photograph of a beautiful scene is a distillation of this harmony: all things working together to form a vision of the awesomeness of the world. The excellence of the picture depends on the ease with which the viewer can feel this harmonious presence. The unity of the natural world is one way we perceive and experience God’s grace.

I pray that the work I do may be fruitful and that my efforts and interests may succeed. God uses me and my life’s labors to improve the lives of others and contribute to the growth and development of the world. My worldly life and my spiritual life are one and the same. Everything I receive is shared with the world around me.

I pray that my hopes and dreams will come true in my life; that the hopes and dreams of those I love will also come true. I pray that I will live in peace and enjoy prosperity. I pray that the world will be filled with peace, love, and joy. And most of all I pray that, even in the face of fear of failure and death, that I will not lose faith in the power of prayer.