Mystify us, arouse and confuse us. Shatter our illusions and plans so that we lose our way, and see neither path nor light until we have found you, where you are to be found and in your true form–in the peace of solitude, in prayer, in submission, in suffering, in succour given to another, and in flight from idle talk and worldly affairs…. For how foolish it is, O Divine Love, not to see you in all that is good and in all creatures. Why, then, try to find you in what you are not? —Jean Pierre de Caussade in The Sacrament of the Present Moment
Re-read an old journal entry recently in which I wonder with God about the image of being a “temple” of the Holy Spirit. I was thinking the idea of a Temple sounds awfully formal and uninviting except to others who follow the inevitable Temple rules.
My wonderings were whether God might be interested in my being a home or a dwelling of some kind other than a temple that I picture as expensive and made of old marble. Then I remembered some of the things I’d read about a Navaho hogan, sacred home for the Diné (Navajo) people who practice traditional religion. Every family — even if they live most of the time in a newer home — must have the traditional hogan for ceremonies..
I like the stories that tell of the building the first hogan as a gift that is part of their Creation story. Hogans were a part of the plan all along. And the idea that hogans are places of healing and keeping balance inspires me. Hogans are compassionate and peaceful abodes. And that songs were sung during their making is all the more special. Created in song and blessing—what a destiny!
If the scriptures had arisen out of a North American culture, it might have spoken on God wanting to build his hogan among us, and even inviting us to become Hogans of the Holy ourselves.
“If you don’t go within, you go without.” by Neale Donald Walsch
I like this quote. I don’t think we encourage internal growth, especially Spiritual growth enough. It seems like a second or third thought –if we think about it all! To me “going within” means paying attention to where God is in my life and where else I can invite God to be part of my life. It just doesn’t make sense to me that so few see their God relationship as important. In a world where what we look like gets an enormous about of attention, time and money; it seems strange we care so little about what we “look like” to God. I mean shouldn’t we want to be healthy in our relationship with God as much as we want to look and feel healthy? It seems so logical to me, but I just don’t think most people see it that way. My spiritual life adds so much to my life as a whole. It makes me more fully who I was created to be. I need it. I depend on it. The base or foundation of my well being is connected directly to that relationship. If I didn’t “go within” to be with God I would be going without a foundational part of who I am. What about you? How does that strike you?
