What do they mean by ‘the Light of God’?

What do they mean by ‘the Light of God’?

I came to Experiment with Light by accident, almost, because I was not into things like meditation or spirituality at the time. I was very much an intellectual. I was happy; I was a university academic. But I was getting stuck on some very important aspects of my own life. My personal life, but also my understanding. I was doing some research on the Quakers, and I wanted to know, what do they mean by “the light of God”? And “that of God”? It’s a strange phrase. What do they mean by that? So I said, “Alright, I’ll find out.”

Journeying Together

Journeying Together

The purpose of journeying together in spiritual friendship and spiritual community (whether there are just two of you or whether you are in a small group) is to listen to one another’s desire for God, to nurture that desire in each other and to support one another in seeking a way of life that is consistent with that desire.

Investing in your relationship with God

Investing in your relationship with God

The great spiritual traditions suggest that the relationship with God is cultivated like other relationships: as we turn our attention toward God we open the possibility of a fuller relationship. Entering into this relationship does not so much require a change in our behavior as a shift of attention.

What Discipline is Right for You?

What Discipline is Right for You?

It is part of our formation in a listening spirituality to find which practices, at this time in our lives, are most supportive of our inward listening for the word, the guidance, the challenge, the reproof, the love – or simply intimations – of God’s presence. These can take many outward forms. It is a matter of some listening and discernment to find those which are right for us at any given moment.

There Are Many Ways to Be Contemplative

There Are Many Ways to Be Contemplative

I’ve never, and still don’t really, find myself easily called to sitting in silent centering prayer. I haven’t given up on that! What I have learned […] however, was that there are many ways to be contemplative. That it’s more about the Holy Listening and less about what I may or may not be doing with my body in the moment. Chanting, body prayer, yoga, lectio divina, painting, poetry writing, and more became creative endeavors where I found myself being present to the moment, present to the Holy.

The Lord Give Thee the Clear Discerning

The Lord Give Thee the Clear Discerning

So, be still and quiet, and silent before the Lord, not putting up any request to the Father, nor cherishing any desire in thee; and the Lord give thee the clear discerning of all that springs and arises in thy heart.

The Refuge of the Inner Chamber

The Refuge of the Inner Chamber

A true mystic believes that all men have, as he himself is conscious of having, an inward life, into which, as into a secret chamber, he can retreat at will. In this inner chamber he finds a refuge from the ever-changing aspects of outward existence; from the multitude of cares and pleasures and agitations which belong to the life of the senses and the affections.

“Prayer” by Any Other Name Would Sound as Sweet

“Prayer” by Any Other Name Would Sound as Sweet

Prayer is a tough word for a lot of Friends; if you need to do so, translate it into a more comfortable word as you read along. Many contemporary Friends want no part of a practice in which one dials up God to make demands. Some Friends don’t believe in a personal God who is there to hear and respond. Others think that making demands is a poor way to enter into relationship with a personal God.

Pursuing the Kingdom of God

Pursuing the Kingdom of God

Something becomes a spiritual practice once it is done with a sense of deliberate intention, with a purposeful determination. It also requires discipline. A spiritual practice requires regular practice! Spiritual disciplines root you in the present moment, and open you to mystical experience.

The First Step to Peace

The First Step to Peace

Be still and cool in thy own mind and spirit, from thy own thoughts. Then thou wilt feel the principle of God, to turn thy mind to the Lord God, whereby thou wilt receive God’s strength and power from whence life comes, whereby thou wilt receive Gods strength to allay all blustering, storms, and tempests.

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