The Awakening of Yes
When we dare say yes to God’s call there evolves a soul awakening. Whether new to a spiritual life or with an established faith life – either way – there are repercussions.
We may try to ignore the changes but life never really goes back to being the same again. Former benchmarks perceived fixed and safe get shifted – sometimes dramatically but more probably moderately or incrementally. Nonetheless, once we say yes our foundation is not what it once was and our orientation changes – thoughts, words, and actions become influenced by a new perspective. This is exciting and terrifying at the same time – uncomfortable in our own skin – likely.
Yet, even though not everything lines up in old ways, and as we look down the road for direction only to perceive the way forward is not necessarily linear, fundamentally there is a sense that things never felt so right.
Can it get any more contradictory, God writing straight with crooked lines?
Soul Restoration
Don’t get me wrong; with a soul awakening things get jumbled. It’s awkward when we discover new pathways to negotiate. There is unfamiliar territory to visit and learning to take place; anxiety and frustration become daily companions. But in following God’s call in everyday responses breeds certain liberation. The tethering of chains that used to bind become unlocked and slide away. We move towards a greater unity with God – the maker and creator of all things everywhere – even when it doesn’t feel like it.
And oddly it is in a daily practice of silent listening where the liberation becomes most profound. But how can anything happen in nothing?
Photograph by Roberto Barbieri: Bare Altar
http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=7917631
Forgotten is our ego-state which so often loads our minds with survival instincts that overburden and stifle an ever-present God-life within. In trying to stay viable in a competitive world we become like hoarders storing up reserves while waiting for Armageddon. The bunker of our minds become so filled and overcrowded the light that is God becomes dim and obscured.
A return to an altar of silence clears the clutter and offers a place of soul restoration – a better place to hear the awakening voice within. We begin to discern the nature and direction of God’s call.
To be continued in the next post.
Consider what spiritual awakening you have experienced.