170 – Conditions for Growth – Intention on the Spiritual Journey

This paragraph from Evelyn Underhill recently was delivered into my email inbox,

 “There is no need for peculiar conditions in order to grow in the spiritual life, for the pressure of God’s Spirit is present everywhere and at all times. Our environment itself, our home and our job, is the medium through which we experience His moulding action and His besetting love. It is not Christian to try to get out of our frame, or to separate our outward life from our life of prayer, since both are the creation of one Charity. The third-rate little town in the hills, with its limited social contacts and monotonous manual work, reproves us when we begin to fuss about our opportunities and our scope.  And this quality of quietness, ordinariness, simplicity, with which the saving action of God enters history, endures from the beginning to the end.”  (The School of Charity, p. 46)

Underhill’s perspective and recommendation is good to hear … at least I know it is good for me to hear.  I can spend so much energy on “spiritual practices” that I forget to see what is right in front of me, and be really present to each hour of the day.  Especially when I don’t want to be present.

“Our environment itself, our home and our job, is the medium through which we experience His moulding action and His besetting love.”

“It is not Christian to try to get out of our frame, or to separate our outward life from our life of prayer, since both are the creation of one Charity.”

So, do I really need to see my job as a medium for God’s “moulding action?”

You could substitute another word/place/activity for “job.”  The place you might think you are outside God’s moulding action?  Where is that for you?  How will you come to that place today and tomorrow with an openness to his “besetting love?”

 


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