WHEN ISOLATION is GOOD for YOU

  A tree is not only a tree, it is a gift, a miracle, and a delight from God.

 

 SOLITUDE IS GOOD FOR YOUR SOUL 

Your soul partakes of the beauty found in quietness.

 
We may not like being in isolation, having so much time away from others, but the simple ways have extra benefits in unseen ways. 

We hear better when we aren't so busy or distracted.

When we take moments of quiet reflection while in-tune with God, nature, and our surroundings, God creates something extraordinarily beautiful in us. God's presence speaks peace, love, and truth to all who seek Him.

To live simply is good for a person. I read about a young man who left his well-to-do family to join a monastery. Through this he learned the value of having less. He speaks about it to others.

The young man was a participant in the monastery for almost two years. He found what it is to soak in the light of God’s presence. He took that practice with him back to the outside.

There are times now when he finds himself staring at a tree, contemplating in the silence. Rarely is he angry. He is a changed person; he’s at peace on the inside. This presence is a gift to his soul.

What do we make of such a thing? He tasted something sweet that endures within him. His inner being absorbed meaning as it gave life to his soul. Something lasting in beauty took hold in him.

Those who meditate become aware of peaceful presence. Their mind, spirit, and soul partake of meaning beyond the physical. A tree is not only a tree, it a gift, a miracle, and a delight from God.

Seeing the sublime in the ordinary changes the ordinary into something extraordinary. Take a wildflower, for instance. Look at its intricate lines, its magnificent hue and its delicate design.

Let the simple overwhelm and you will go away changed in your sensitivities.

From Here to There: Intervention, no. 3 -- Inspiration 42

From Here to There: Spiritual Transformation

Finding God in the Daily

It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. 

The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

John 6:63

Pain, disappointments, and wounds get buried. To allow them in the conversation might seem at odds with spiritual belief. The truth is, coverups don't work in spiritual life. Issues need to be addressed with God to live freely in the spirit. 

Active engagement with God affects spiritual perceptions. Reorganization in the interior self initiates an altering of viewpoint. Impact in the hidden place, which long functioned as a repository for hurts, wounds, and struggle, is inevitable. Hiding the wounded self is natural in believing Christians for many reasons. This is problematic. Hiding behind belief creates a false front. Internalized pain erects a barrier that disrupts the flow between experience and belief.

For spiritual life to thrive, the barriers need to come down. After the shake-up happens, when the spiritual awakens and enlivens the soul, those formerly empty clichés no longer ring a false note. Experience and belief blend into one solid, health-building unit. Gone are pretense and disillusionment. The means to get there takes a process and some doing.

Once the deeper understanding is apprehended and becomes part of daily experience, spiritual life is anchored in such a way that the person becomes secure, content, confident and able to function well while in the best and worst of times. Because spiritual life is centered and secure, the personal flows hand-in-hand with the spiritual. No longer does a breach separate belief from experience. The two operate on the same page and act in tandem with each other.

The effects of this are wonderful. Newness in outlook and refreshment in the spirit have internal liveliness and quiet authority. Others can't help but notice the change. What is this? they ponder. A thing of beauty, transformational and real, is happening right before their eyes. From the inside to out, the Christ-life is transformational, and it shows. This amazes onlookers.

In the context of a soul-changing intervention, what transpires throughout the process is utterly life-changing and is evident once the intervention has culminated. It is like how you know you are free once you experience freedom. God heals, engages the heart, mind, and soul, sets free, and opens a new path.

A soul-changing intervention enacts several steps that enable a living relationship with God. God, plus the individual, are in this for the long haul. They cannot act independent of each other for this is a joint venture. To be frank, a soul-changing intervention is an active time of serious soul searching combined with intentional seeking of God for answers and truth.

Dear Father, Thank you. You meet us where we're at and it doesn't phase You. Amen

To God be the Glory

 

 *More in my next post.