Some people are fortunate enough to be overtaken by an experience they call God that is so clear and self-authenticating that no amount of argument to the contrary can really undermine that experience. Having once had the felt experience of God, they have both a yardstick and a lodestone for their slow, stumbling realisation that … Continue reading How to experience God
Tag: god
Living with life’s ups and downs
When one enjoys consolation, let [her] consider how [she] will conduct [herself] during the time of ensuing desolation, and store up a supply of strength as defence against that day.He who enjoys consolation should take care to humble himself and lower himself as much as possible. Let him recall how little he is able to … Continue reading Living with life’s ups and downs
Repetition
In prayer, when I attend to this body, there are two things I do. I remember and invoke sensations of God's presence that I experienced in the past. (See Where to start?). Ignatius calls this repetition.I feel into this body and attend to the body's sensations. The body tells me what I need to know … Continue reading Repetition
The fear of God
I feel a little distant from You. I like to sit, to be quiet and still, to write, to ponder. I can do this without any memory of You, without reference to You. But I think You are inviting me into a deeper relationship. You are always present, so being fully present means being present … Continue reading The fear of God
Demarcation
A dear friend says, "Prayer is hard work." I tend to agree. Prayer might be simple, but it is not easy. Yet her assertion gives me pause. Prayer is a relationship and it is not all down to you. God plays the leading part: God prays in you. Your part involves: desire: for God;disposition: being … Continue reading Demarcation
You
September 1969. I remember the first morning I walked into my classroom, 1D, at my all-boys secondary school, and met Mr Starling, the form teacher. I was excited to find he was also my chemistry teacher – the synchronicity of it. Already in love with chemistry, it was the one thing I was longing to … Continue reading You
What is the sensation of prayer? 10 steps to knowing God
How can you draw close to God when you are far from your own self? Grant, Lord, that I may know myself, that I may know thee.Augustine There is no deep knowing of God without a deep knowing of the self and no deep knowing of self without a deep knowing of God.Calvin, Institutes of … Continue reading What is the sensation of prayer? 10 steps to knowing God
Make no improvements
Time after time I came to your gate with raised hands, asking for more and yet more.You gave and gave, now in slow measure, now in sudden excess.I took some, and some things I let drop; some lay heavy on my hands; some I made into playthings and broke them when tired; till the wrecks … Continue reading Make no improvements
Read from the heart
But these two ways of describing the mystery of God—the way of darkness and the way of light, the ambiguity of silence and the transparency of articulation—can never be separated. There is danger in posing a sharp dichotomy between apophatic and kataphatic approaches, as if one were superior to the other, as if the higher … Continue reading Read from the heart
Trust Me (conclusion)
[This is the conclusion to Monday's post, Trust Me.] So, in what can we trust? Firstly what it is not: I cannot trust that I will find a parking space. I cannot trust that I will get that job I want. I cannot trust that my life will go well. I cannot trust that I … Continue reading Trust Me (conclusion)