Interior Stirrings of the Heart

The Spiritual life is an interior disposition that takes a lifetime to cultivate. We must first look at our hearts to determine its natural inclinations.  Our hearts are formed for union with our Creator, we yearn for Him day and night.  It is what is within us that compels us to keep searching.  Initially we may not give it a name, but it is still there, calling us into relationship.

How we respond to these promptings is the start of our Spiritual journey.  It is a journey each one has to make, since we, endowed with free will, can choose to actively participate or passively observe.

When we actively participate in our relationship with our Creator, we listen for Divine instructions throughout our day and immediately respond.  Our day flows gracefully and effortless.

Cultivating this interior disposition is hard work. It requires us to become aware of the movements of our heart (soul). These movements are so subtle they cannot readily be detected by the intellect. The heart (soul) is delicate and sensitive, it is pure love, and its natural tendency is to unite with Love itself, which is God. Only upon reflection can these movements be seen.

The four main areas of distraction to the Spiritual Life are the influences within oneself. First: our interior dialogue, no one talks to us more than we talk to ourselves. Second: our relationships with other people, our spouse, children, parents, and friends. Third: our relationship with the world at large, how we handle or make sense of what is happening in and around our world. Fourth: how we handle the immediate situation we are placed in. All of these movements happen in our heart every moment of every day. Looking at them can be a daunting task.

The Spiritual life is simply the pulling apart these four areas of distractions and looking at what drives them. Many things can influence or drive them such as; money, power, acceptance, fear or privilege. Once we know what is driving us in each of these four areas we can then bring them into conformity with God. This is the first step in actively participating in our relationship with our Creator. When we start here we can build a solid foundation of interior knowledge of who we are coupled with the inspirations given to us by God. It is here that we learn to hear His voice.

Hearing His voice helps replace all of the distractions and put our union with God in its place. So God is at the center of all our actions, decisions and interactions with others.

While our hearts (souls) are housed in these bodies, they are subject to our humanness; our thoughts, feelings, emotions, physical and psychological needs. It is through our human nature that satan attacks and tempts us. He uses the four areas of distractions to do this. When we start judging ourselves, think badly of others, are upset by something that happened on the other side of the world, or lash out at our spouse or someone else, we know satan at work within us!

The Spiritual Life calls us to begin again, to pull apart the four areas of distraction and examine the source of the temptation.

It is through this constant repetition of failing and examining that we come to know ourselves and God. We can get stuck in a rut, thinking we are never going to get this, we always make the same mistakes over and over, and we should just give up! Sadly, some of us do. Then live lives of quiet desperation keeping them from relationships with others and perhaps even the church, satan has won. However, we are called to accept our humanness as a gift from God and tame that which is in us and conform it in the Image and Likeness of God: understanding, by our human nature, we will never succeed. The gift of the Spiritual Journey IS the constant repetition of failing, examining and starting anew.

Accepting ourselves as we were created is the single most important thing we can do in this life.

For once we accept that no-one is perfect, we can relax and cooperate with God to fulfill our unique Divine purpose on this earth, by bringing the Light of Christ into this fallen world. Then in complete agreement with the Holy Spirit we can say “Let it be done unto me according to your will.”

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