Hi Everyone,
Well, thank you for your responses to my question about prayer - thank you so much. I was up half the night reading all of them - and I mean half the night. Reading all of your comments reminded me of when I asked people to share their stories with me about their experiences of doing service for others or what others have done for them. These stories eventually filled the pages of, Invisible Acts of Power. I read all of them in one sitting - nearly 1,200.
The impact of those incredible experiences was overwhelming for me for many reasons, not the least of which was that these stories stood as proof for me of the essential goodness of the human spirit - the merger of our spirit with our own human nature.
I mentioned in yesterday's post that I would comment on what I meant by listening to your inner nature.
Perhaps the best way I can describe that inner position is that it is the point within you that rests between your human nature and your spiritual nature. The position between human and spiritual instincts is a restless one that often manifests within you as inner guidance or inner conflict. The restlessness comes from the fact that you are always processing something, deciding something, examining something, weighing the good against the bad, the right against the wrong.
內我的位置, 就是你人性與神性交會之處. 這個位置也是頗具騷動的, 會顯現成你的內在指引或內在衝突. 不安來自你一直在處理事情, 決定事情, 檢驗事情, 衡量事情好壞對錯
This is where the art of Spiritual Direction is so magnificent: How do you discern what you are feeling? How do you interpret these sensations, these soul messages? What directives are you being given? These are more than ordinary feelings. They are threads filled with spiritual directions, perhaps answers to prayers said or even unsaid. Spiritual guidance pours into your life regardless of whether you pray. Prayer is a decision to engage with the Sacred directly.
這也是為何靈魂指引如此重要: 你如何辨識你當下的感覺? 你如何解釋這些情感, 這些靈魂訊息? 你被給予那些指引? 這些比一般情感多更多. 他們是線, 充滿靈魂指引, 也許是呼應你祈禱後的回應, 說的, 沒說的. 靈魂指引傾注到你的生命, 不管你是否祈禱了. 祈禱是個直接參與神的決定.
I learned through my years with my Spiritual Director the value of discernment - to examine my own responses with detachment. I know the value of this practice which is why I plan on teaching this in my course on Spiritual Direction. Discernment helps you to stand clearly in that precious and powerful position between your human nature and your spiritual nature.
這些年我從我的老師學到 - 去檢視背離神聖指引的自我反應. 我知道這個練習的價值, 這是為何我把它放在我的教材. "辨識"幫助你更清楚地站在有價值, 有力的神性/人性交會之處.
Let me close with this prayer: Hover over me on this day. Help me to discern clearly what is truly important and what is not. Grant me the grace to appreciate all the more the gift of another day of life.
讓我以這祈禱文做個結束: 把我固定在這一天, 請幫助我清楚辨別什麼是真正重要的, 什麼不是. 給予我恩典欣賞與感謝新一天的生命的禮物.
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