Free Access to our Souls

Dinas Lodge Entry Door

We have free access to [our souls] whenever we please. …All we have to do is be still and go within. Page 23, The Interior Castle St. Teresa of Avila, Translation by Mirabai Starr,

To go within, to enter the soul, the very essence of our being, which is deep within our very core, we enter through the door, which is Christ. We must cross the threshold of Christ; we need not hesitate at the threshold as if there is something to fear by entering our souls, for here, in the silence and stillness, we are at one with God.

Open Door in Summer

Christ himself tells us that he is the door or the gate where we may freely go in and out and find fresh pasture. We need not be afraid to follow him; he leads us on safe paths and shepherds us, taking care of each one of us. (John 10: 6-16)

We need to cultivate a time of silence and stillness through which we have ease of access to the open door of Christ. The time of silence and stillness generates in us a holy place and a reverence for God into whose presence we are entering.

© Judith Lawrence

Silence as a Path to God

Seeking a Path to God

Contemplation nourishes the soul. It stimulates your relationship with the divine.…All religious traditions have a history of seeking silence as a path to God, the Light, and the Way.

Silence is an invitation to the divine to come forward, to reveal itself to you—as a presence more than an active guidance. You wait to experience the presence of God without an agenda, without a prayer list filled with requests that cover myriad fears and insecurities. This is a new experience for many people who seem to lack the patience to wait for God.…

Contemplation is the discipline of piercing through the ego’s self-centeredness and impatience. It may include the boredom of waiting for God to show up. Contemplation is like falling into your soul and away from the world. Caroline Myss Entering the Castle Page 68/69

The mind talks so much that it is hard to keep a silent space. When I get into a mode of contemplation and actually manage to be run through with silence then I often find myself sinking into a sleep-filled place. I doze off.  The silence is so peaceful it is conducive to rest and sleep.

In the parable of the Ten Bridesmaids, Matthew 25: 1-13, we read, “When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.” Matt 25: 5 (New Living Translation). Christ, in the telling of this parable doesn’t have any condemnation of the fact that they fell asleep for, as soon as the shout went up that the bridegroom was coming, they were immediately awake and prepared their lamps ready to greet him.

Five out of the ten bridesmaids were described as wise and were ready for the bridegroom to come, they had extra oil for their lamps, and as soon as the bridegroom appeared, they trimmed their lamps and their inner selves shone with prepared light. They had waited through the dark times, the boring times, and the uncertain times; they did not give up in the dry times.

They were ready to accompany the bridegroom—the Sacred One—to the place where he would go and they rejoiced and celebrated with him. We must be like the five wise bridesmaids, ready to meet our God and accompany him whither he would have us go.

© Judith Lawrence

Silence in your Spiritual Life

Quiet Countryside Home

In silence you can hear your soul’s guidance. Of course, an observation of complete silence is simply not realistic in the world today, but a practice of silence in your spiritual life is both realistic and essential.…

Hold the grace within you. Let it penetrate deeply into your soul, your cell tissue, your thoughts, your memories, your fears. Allow grace to expand your soul as only it can.…

Contain your experience with the divine so that it does not escape you but rather reshape you. Caroline Myss Entering the Castle Page 38

In order for the soul to make itself heard it is necessary for us to have a span of silence in our lives. Silence for most people is not their overriding environment. Perhaps for those living in rural areas, on farms, or in small villages there may be a surrounding quiet with the only sounds being of birdsong that enhance rather than disturb the peacefulness; but, for many, their homes and businesses are filled with all-pervasive noise—loud music, motor cars, shrill voices, ringing telephones, and much more.

Because of this noisy environment it is important that we put some time aside for a space of silence to allow our soul to be heard. The soul will not shout to get our attention so we have to consciously give ourselves a time for quiet when we can listen for and get to know our soul’s voice when it speaks to us.

For me, I find the best time is early morning before the rest of the household gets going, before I become involved in the day’s planned events, before the night’s quiet has left my body, mind, and spirit and escaped into my life of activity. This is the time when my spirit is most able to hear the soul’s voice and God’s message for my life.

© Judith Lawrence

Adventures of the Spiritual Life

“Recollection,” says Evelyn Underhill, “is the traditional term by which mystical writers define the voluntary concentration, a first collecting or gathering in of the attention of the self to its most hidden cell. That self is as yet unacquainted with the strange plane of silence which so soon becomes familiar to those who attempt even the lowest activities of the contemplative life, where the self is released from [constant thought], and the noises of the world are never heard, and the great adventures of the spirit take place.” Mysticism Page 212.

We have to gather ourselves in to the centre of our being in order to prepare ourselves for the contemplative life. This is where we find the silent place where God dwells in us. Silence is not a familiar place for many of us but as we seek to be with God silence becomes a sought after and familiar venue.

First we must turn off the outward noises that may surround us—the radio, the T.V., the telephone, the cell phone—we get so used to these being a part of our life that we may be afraid we might miss something if we turn these things off. But, when our prayer time is finished and we turn these sound makers back on we will soon catch up on any missed communications.

During our tryst with God, even our thoughts need to be quieted. We may not be aware of how much our brain chatters on in continuous thought as we go about our tasks, but when we come to be with God in contemplation we become very aware of how our thoughts get in the way of just being with God.

Don’t fret about it; just keep returning to the silence where you desire to be with God and God desires to be with you. It will happen; it takes preparation, time, and practice.