Character of the Soul

The spiritual journey is the journey of the soul. At its core, the character of the soul is holiness. As we go along our spiritual path, our whole being is reaching towards holiness. It is as if at the core of our souls a spiritual seed dwells—a seed of holiness—and, as it grows, it develops into a sacred plant, flower, and fruit of holiness. Judith Lawrence, Highway of Holiness: Soul Journey, Page 17/18

Foxgloves and Lupines, 2011

When we plant seeds in a flower garden they come up in due time, they give us flowers of various kinds according to the type of seed we planted; later they produce seeds, which either produce flowers where they fell in the following year or which we can harvest and plant ourselves next spring where we desire that they will grow.

Animals and birds also harvest these seeds, either for their immediate sustenance or for storage for their upcoming winter nourishment.

Over a person’s lifetime, a soul doesn’t produce one flower only but, out of the original seed of holiness with which it was born and its resultant first bloom, many more seeds are formed and grow into a beautiful garden of holiness. From the seeds of lessons learned, difficulties and joys experienced, and gifts given as we go along our spiritual journey, an abundance of fruits of the spirit are formed and mature along our pathway to eternal life.

So it is the character of our soul grows strong and evolves into the next stage of becoming a spiritual being.

© Judith Lawrence

Unique Spiritual Growth

Spiritual growth is unique to each one of us and cannot be compared to or measured alongside another’s growth. God is not looking for conformity but a special, one-of-a-kind relationship with each individual. Judith Lawrence Highway of Holiness: Soul Journey, P. 17

Each one of us is an individual; physically, mentally, and spirituality we are each different from one another. Even though we may compete with one another in our physical and mental fields, in our spiritual side each one of us is precious in God’s sight and should own our own God-given uniqueness and that of others; our spiritual growth is individual and unique and there can be no competition between us, no vying for God’s attention over another’s relationship with God; each one of us is as important to God as is the next person.

God desires a bond with each human being on the earth; God desires a relationship with each one of us; God loves us each one. God created us and formed us in our mother’s womb and desires that we would search after God and our special relationship with the Sacred One, not trying to conform to others or vie with others to appear better in God’s eyes than the next spiritual being.

© Judith Lawrence

Planting and Reaping a Spiritual Harvest

Jesus said, “You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest. The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike” (John 4:35-36)!

The planting and the harvesting cannot be separated from one another; the journeying and the arrival at the journey’s end are one and the same. The spiritual planting time and harvesting time have one destiny—people being brought to eternal life, the purpose of the pilgrimage process is our continued maturity in the spirit and our union with God. P. 16 Highway of Holiness: Soul Journey, Judith Lawrence.  

When the farmer plants his seeds in the spring of the year he hopes for the right conditions for favourable growth leading to a bumper harvest in the fall. When we are born here on earth we are God’s planting and God knows and sees already, at the time of our birth, the prospects of a good harvest.

Those who act as the farmers of these God-planted seeds will rejoice with those who tend our needs at the time of spiritual harvest. Parents, teachers, religious ministers who planted spiritual seeds within us at God’s direction will rejoice with those who assisted in our spiritual growth throughout our lives and those who bring us into eternal life at the time of spiritual harvest.

God who is the planter of the seed and the harvester of the crop will rejoice most of all, as we are brought to eternal life.

© Judith Lawrence Sept. 2011  

Goal of Soul Pilgrimage

The goal of a soul pilgrimage is to grow in spiritual maturity and become totally at one with God. In order to arrive at that goal we have to walk the daily pilgrimage path. We walk step by step, hour by hour, day by day, taking care to learn our spiritual lessons as they are presented to us along the way. Judith Lawrence. Highway ofHoliness: Soul Journey P. 15

Soul pilgrimage is not something to be rushed. The time allowed for this journey is God’s time. It is a slow, steady process that allows for us to learn the lessons presented to us by God in small steps. We learn the lessons by degrees, discovering different nuances as we are presented with the same lessons many times over.

When we are young we learn simple lessons with simple messages. As we journey along our spiritual path we meet up with the same lessons many times over and discover more depth and wisdom in the teachings each time we are confronted with the repeated messages.

We need never get tired of receiving the same lessons or get frustrated by going through the same curriculum. Each time we learn the same lessons we come closer to our spiritual maturity discovering the teaching’s many different facets.

© Judith Lawrence  

Seeing God with the Eye of the Soul

Let all that I am wait quietly before God. Ps 62:5a

In bringing my whole being—all that I am—before God and waiting quietly, I can begin to see beyond surface seeing: I can begin to see with the eye of the soul. In contemplation, the eye of the soul sees beyond the surface; it sees with depth and height; in breadth and length; out to the horizon and beyond where prayer is not trapped in a box of our conformity. The eye of the soul sees with unpredictability; it sees God untamed by human images; it sees God in out of the ordinary reflections. The eye of the soul sees things in the wild, in the wilderness, and beyond the ordinary, where wild creatures, blossoms, and ideas are seen through God’s amazing freedom, in all the Creator’s beauty and generosity. P.12 Highway of Holiness: Soul Journey, by Judith Lawrence

Hold a small pebble, a small flower, or a small leaf in your hands. Concentrate the eye of your soul on this small creation by God. Concentrate all that you are on this small creation and see God in all God’s beauty, love, generosity, and glorious humility. Just wait quietly and see God’s humble power in this glorious one-of-a-kind creation. Know that God made you with this same one-of-a-kind creativity and give thanks for the sacredness with which you are blessed. 

c Judith Lawrence 

Drawn to God

To say that God is Infinite is to say that He may be apprehended and described in an infinity of ways. The Circle whose centre is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere, may be approached from every angle with a certainty of being found.

So says, Evelyn Underhill in her book, Mysticism, P. 163

Draw me, we will run after thee. Song of Solomon 1:4a (King James’ Version)

God draws us to himself, even when we are only just beginning on the path of mystical prayer. God desires us to know him and, because each one of us is different, we can “run after God” in our own unique way and unite with God in our own unique union with the Sacred One.

The circle and circumference of God’s being is vast, in fact, it is infinite; the centre of God’s circle is where God desires each one of us to be—it is our spiritual home.

We do not have to be all the same. God does not require us, nor even want us, to be the same as one another. God delights in diverse responses and relationships with his creatures. As no two woodpeckers have exactly the same red markings on the back of their heads, and no two snowflakes have exactly the same pattern as any other snowflake, so it is with spiritual/human beings—no two have exactly the same makeup or the same relationship with God. Each one of us is created by God to be unique and therefore each one’s bond with the Sacred One is delightfully different and special from any other.

Perhaps even God would get bored with his creation if we were carbon copies of one another.

© Judith Lawrence

Glimpsing God

In your time of meditation and quiet with the Sacred One, you glimpse God and receive God’s love and light. As a relationship with your special partner grows by being with that special person, talking to that special person, spending time quietly with that one special one, so does your relationship with God grow by making time to be with the Lord. In so doing, you grow in the Spirit; your soul expands and has more room for God’s love. Judith Lawrence, Highway of Holiness: Soul Journey Page 6

Have you taken that step yet, that step to being with God each day if only for a very short time?

Why not give it a try this week. Come to God early in the morning. Be silent in God’s presence. Look to God and be amazed. Even five minutes of complete silence with God in the morning quiet will bring you a peace that you didn’t think possible.

I pray that your time with God will grow and be blessed; your heart and soul expand in God’s grace.

© Judith Lawrence