touch of God

Touch of God Awakens the Soul

Posted on by Harold Boulette

Touch of God

“Understand this well: when we turn within ourselves in contemplation, the fruitive unity of God is like to a darkness, a somewhat which is unconditioned and incomprehensible. And the spirit turns inward through love and through simplicity of intention, because it is active in all virtues, offering itself up in fruition above all virtues. In this loving introversion, there arises the seventh gift, which is the spirit of Savoring Wisdom, and it saturates the simplicity of our spirit, soul , and body, with wisdom and with ghostly savors. And it is a ghostly touch or stirring within the unity of our spirit; and it is an inpouring and a source of all grace, all gifts, and all virtues. And, in this Touch of God, each person savors their exercise and life according to the power of the Touch and the measure of His love. And this Divine stirring is the inmost mediator between God and ourselves, between rest and activity, between the conditioned and the unconditioned, between eternity and time. And God would that this ghostly touching within us first of all, before all gifts; and yet it is known and tasted by us least of all. For only when we have lovingly sought God in all our practices eve to the inwards deeps of our ground, do we fist feel the gushing in of all the graces and gifts of God.” ~John of Ruysbroeck

Turn Within

Yes, we must turn within ourselves, but that doesn’t mean all answers are found within and nothing outside of us matters. We need both the within and the without. Those who pay attention only to the world within are no better off that those who only deal with the external world.

Unity of God

I have to say that I don’t like Ruysbroeck’s choice of words when he says the unity of God is like darkness. What he means is that it is something that cannot be known by the mind, the intellect. God is present, but unknown because we are trying to communicate with Him using the physical senses. God can only be comprehended through the spiritual senses, which must first be awakened. Otherwise, we stay in ignorance of God, and that is what Ruysbroeck means by darkness, in this case. To feel the Touch of God, we have to awaken our spiritual faculties. Continue reading “Touch of God Awakens the Soul” →

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ship of God

Ship of God on a Stormy Sea

Posted on by Harold Boulette

THE SHIP OF GOD

“Deep companion of the beings of light! In your mercy, give me your strength and help me with your own hand. Dress my soul, O Lord, and speak to me. Help me when enemies close in. … Beneficent friend, free me. My soul is crying in my body at every blow and dagger stab. My hour of life and this form in flesh is over, and all its days of turbulence. … Springs of darkness opened, and the giant fishes transfixed me with fear. My soul fainted before those dreadful forms, hideous to look at. Their bodies lack a human shape. These are the demons, the banished princes, transfixing me with terror. … They rose to drown me. In every neighborhood there were storm winds. Rain, the mist of all fogs, lightning and drums of thunder, shores of clouds, hail, crashing sea. The skiff rose over the crest of a wave and glided into a hidden trough. … With the drownings the sails swallowed water, and the masts shook together in the turmoil. The rudders dropped into the sea. Those left on board turned to stone. Redemption became a habit. From every source the wind blew the prison locks loose. Stars whirled wildly about, planets fell out of orbit. The earth shuddered, as did my foundation. Lofty heavens sank. … The wheel of the zodiac lost its course. The seal of my feet and joints of my toes, every link of my soul’s life was loosened. Each joint of my hands and fingers was loosened and its seal taken off. Their meaty life grew feeble. My limbs fell cold. My knees froze together in fear. In my legs the strength was struck and drained away. When I saw the dark, the strength in my limbs collapsed, and my soul moaned at all its opposing forms. Who will save me? Who will save me; make a new way? … Who will rip off this body and dress me in a new one? After I spoke with trembling soul I saw the savior.
“After I spoke with trembling soul I saw the savior and saw his helmsmen, who came down to dress my soul. I raised my eyes that way and saw deaths hidden by the envoy. Hurt was remote. So too sickness and distress. Their vision left, their darkness fled. Everything was holy and unsurpassed. Light shone elating and lovely, swelling my mind with gladness.” ~Parthian Songs

Ship of God?

This Parthian Manichean song is titled The Ship of God, yet when you read the first part of it, you would think it is more like the ship of Satan. In fact, it almost seems that the first part of the song is talking about a completely different ship than the final section. In truth, there is no ship at all, it is pure allegory. The allegory could represent the material world or the human soul. Both interpretations seem to work. This might be better titled Ship of God on the Sea of Satan.

Ship of God in a Storm

So the song starts with the singer being caught on the Ship of God in a raging storm and asking for help from a spiritual being that he calls a “companion of the beings of light.” Beings of Light is another name for Angels. So he is asking for help from the companion of Angels. Why he doesn’t simply ask God is unknown. Perhaps it is just his way of reminding the listeners that they too can become companions of Angels and be free from the storm of matter. Continue reading “Ship of God on a Stormy Sea” →

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in all things

In All Things We Find God

Posted on by Harold Boulette

In All Things and Places

“When mine eyes are dim with weeping, And my tongue with grief is dumb; And it is as if Thou wert sleeping When my heart calleth, ‘Come;’ When I hunger with bitter hunger, O Lord, for Thee. Where art Thou, then, Belovèd? Speak, speak to me.”

“I am where I was in the ancient days, I in Myself must be; In all things I am, and in every place, For there is no change in Me. Where the sun is My Godhead, throned above, [8] For thee, O Mine own, I wait; I wait for thee in the garden of love, Till thou comest irradiate With the light that shines from My Face divine, And I pluck the flowers for thee; They are thine, belovèd, for they are Mine, And thou art one with Me. In the tender grass by the waters still, I have made thy resting-place; Thy rest shall be sweet in My holy will, And sure in My changeless grace. And I bend for thee the holy Tree, Where blossoms the mystic Rod; The highest of all the trees that be In the Paradise of God. And thou of that Tree of life shalt eat, Of the Life that is in Me; Thou shalt feed on the fruit that is good for meat, And passing fair to see. There overshadowed by mighty wings Of the Holy Spirit’s peace, Beyond the sorrow of earthly things, The toil and the tears shall cease. And there beneath the eternal Tree, I will teach thy lips to sing The sweet new song that no man knows In the land of his banishing. They follow the Lamb where’er He goes, To whom it is revealed; The pure and the undefiled are those, The ransomed and the sealed. Thou shalt learn the speech and the music rare, And thou shalt sing as they, Not only there in My garden fair, But here, belovèd, to-day.”

“O Lord, a faint and a feeble voice Is mine in this house of clay, But Thy love hath made my lips rejoice, And I can sing and say, ‘I am pure, O Lord, for Thou art pure, Thy love and mine are one; And my robe is white, for Thine is white, And brighter than the sun. Thy mouth and mine can know no moan, No note of man’s sad mirth, But the everlasting joy alone, Unknown to songs of earth; And for ever fed on that living Tree, I will sing the song of Thy love with Thee.” ~Matilda of Magdeburg

In All Things I Am

God is saying that he is everywhere and in everything, every being. This is true only in a limited sense. God is in the spirit of all things and in the souls of all humans, but he is not in matter. Matter is the creation of the Demiurge, and God stays away from it, other than to gradually send energy (Light) into matter to slowly convert it back into spirit and return it to God. He could do it much faster, but if he did, many beings including most humans would be killed by the sudden change. Continue reading “In All Things We Find God” →

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nothing contrary to the proper constitution of man

Nothing Contrary to the Proper Constitution of Man

Posted on by Harold Boulette

Do Nothing Contrary to the Proper Constitution of Man

“Through the substance of the universe pass all particular bodies, being all of the same nature, and all joint workers with the universe itself, and all joint workers with the universe itself as in one of our bodies so many members among themselves. How many such as Chrysippus, how many such as Socrates, how many such as Epictetus, has the age of the world long since swallowed up and devoured? Let this, be it either men or businesses, that you have occasion to think of, to the end that your thoughts be not distracted and thy mind too earnestly set upon anything, upon every such occasion presently come to thy mind. Of all my thoughts and cares, one only thing shall be the object, that I myself do nothing which which to the proper constitution of man, (either in regard of the thing itself, or in regard of the manner, or of the time of doing.) is contrary. The time when you will have forgotten all things is at hand. And that time also is at hand, when you shall be forgotten by all. While thou art, apply thyself to that which unto man as he is a mart, is most proper and agreeable and that is for a man to love even them who transgress against him.” ~Marcus Aurelius

Through the Substance of the Universe

What Aurelius is saying here, is that all beings pass at some time through the universe. It is obvious that he means the physical or material universe, not the spiritual one. So he is saying that all beings descend at some point into matter. That is actually not correct. It is true, however, that all beings in the physical realm have descended from the higher dimensions of spirit. The aim of most spiritual development programs is to help man and all fallen being to get back to the spiritual world where they belong. Continue reading “Nothing Contrary to the Proper Constitution of Man” →

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