Caring for your spirit





For the sake of ease and understanding, I want to use the terms spirit, soul, heart synonymously.  If you recall my last blog, I introduced the idea of receiving revelation.  The primary vehicle for receiving revelation is the heart.    
Mark 6:50-56 50 “They were all terrified when they saw him.
But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage! I am here!” Then he climbed into the boat, and the wind stopped. They were totally amazed, for they still didn’t understand the significance of the miracle of the loaves. Their hearts were too hard to take it in.”  Note that the issue was a heart issue, not a head/mind issue.  Heart here, is defined as "the centre and seat of spiritual life.”

Martin Laird speaks of the heart “as the symbol of that human depth that is deeper than thinking and feeling; this is where you discover yourself as already found by God.” (Into the Silent Land, Martin Laird, p 39) 

Laird further quotes a Russian monk Theophan who says: “You must descend from your head to your heart.  At present your thoughts of God are in your head.   And God Himself is, as it were, outside you, and so your prayer and other spiritual exercises remain exterior. Whilst you are still in your heart, thoughts will not easily be subdued but will always be whirling about, like snow in winter or clouds of mosquitoes in summer.” (p 27)

So now I put forth the question: How do we strengthen our spirit and be prepared for,  and expect more revelation?

Let me suggest four things that will assist you:

# 1.  Learn patience, quietness, solitude.  This is a hard thing to learn in our fast paced, noisy culture.  This takes practice, practice, practice.  A trained spiritual director can help you learn this. 
# 2.  Take intentional hours/ days/ of uninterrupted time with God. A receptive heart takes time to develop.  This will take more than a daily devotional experience. 
# 3.  Stop asking for stuff from God all the time.  Learn to just be with Him. 
St John of the Cross wrote: Preserve a loving attentiveness to God with no desire to feel or understand any particular things concerning God.

# 4. Learn to be comfortable with mystery, ambiguity, and paradox.  The disciples missed lots of Jesus’ teachings because Jesus was drawing outside the box.

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