Author: Nick Hilton

How do we worship this God, who is beyond our imagination, especially when we realize that theology, or religious writings, and mythology are “not the moon, but…  Just the finger pointing at the moon”?

Living with this question on our minds and in our hearts is what constitutes the consecrated life.

God is our private composition, written in the notebooks of our souls, one word or phrase or sentence at a time; written by turning ourselves to Him in prayer and trusting, having faith, that He will guide us and inform us in His love and on His path all our days.

“I am the place where God shines through

He and I are one, not two.

He needs me where and as I am;

I need not doubt, nor fear, nor plan.

If I but be relaxed and free,

He’ll work his plan of love through me.”

                                                    -Anonymous

My spiritual “work” may be defined as the contemplation and observance of things unseen, things beyond the world of my senses. These things which I perceive — ideas, intuitions, trends  — give greater significance to my life than what I see around me. Insights inform my daily experience. Then, as I observe the world of sense with a growing consciousness of its holy significance, my life takes on a greater meaning, for myself and my fellow man.

Our spiritual goal is to have a sense of the divine around us at all times. So the God of our understanding must have one quality first: Personality. Over time the attributes we assign to God (Our Heavenly Parent,) must be attributes we ourselves can identify and relate to; otherwise our relationship is impersonal, vague. We cannot feel something in our heart towards that which is vague. We have to make it real.

“Prayer… tunes us in… with divine Principle.” – Emmet Fox.

Just so; and since divine Principle is completely good and absolutely true, the nature of effective prayer is such that it transforms us into good and selfless, truthful and helping human beings. Prayer is more  a clearing-out than a petition, because the goodness of the divine is within us from the beginning. It is what we are made of.

“I am here to do your will, oh Lord, and I know that your will for me is absolute goodness and perfect happiness.”

Discipleship is the source and the purpose of spiritual growth.

I am a like a battery of spiritual energy, charged by another source, transferring this energy to those I connect with. My purpose is to pass on what I learn from those who have gone before. I follow a trail blazed by earlier explorers. My own uniqueness and natural creativity make the discoveries unique to me, but I am only a receiver and a transmitter of the cosmic signals. Their origin is God.

Who I am and what I have — my experience of the world and of myself at this moment, all that — is the reflection of my mental state. If that state is good, blessed by right thought and right living, it is truly good. My misfortune is an indication of my having missed or right now missing the harmonious note that my soul is meant to sing.

We speak of “understanding” God, and the common definition of the word implies that we can have a real concept of God’s identity and character. However our understanding is not an intellectual process; what we understand of God is really that which we feel when we get close to It in prayer and meditation. My understanding of God is my emotional attachment to the holiness and sanctity of the universe. God’s face dissolves into mist when I think I see it; his Spirit abides forever. I enfold this Spirit in my heart when I meditate.

Personal happiness and worldly security are righteous goals. It is correct to pray for peace and prosperity for oneself, for our intentions to improve God’s world will come to nothing if we are sick, or starving, or preoccupied. When our basic human needs are met we are then free to love God and man; and the abundance we achieve through our successes are what we give back to the world.

Imperfection is our natural condition. We must recognize our failures with kindness and grace, acknowledging mistakes and shortcomings with loving forgiveness, if we are to engender sufficient motivation to improve mentally, spiritually, physically. We will not strive to improve if we can’t forgive, don’t love ourselves enough to make the effort. I am kind to myself when I recognize my own imperfection and, without shame or regret, determine not to repeat my mistakes.