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The Word Is Near

Friday, January 16, 2015

Wisdom’s Way of Knowing

The Word Is Near
Friday, January 16, 2015

We live in a time that can make use of the unique contribution of every era to enjoy intuitive and body knowledge, along with rational critique and deeper synthesis, thus encouraging both intelligent and heartfelt participation “with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength,” as Jesus puts it (Mark 12:30).

I do not believe the will of God is a theory, an argued moral theology, or an abstraction in any form; it is seeking the truth of each situation in that situation as best as we can figure it out. Somehow the True Self in all humans has natural access to that “hidden” will of God—if the mind and heart and body are open and undefended (which is always the spiritual task and not easily achieved). Jeremiah called it “the law written on your heart” (Jeremiah 31:33).

Moses said it poetically: “This law is not beyond your strength or beyond your reach. It is not in heaven, so that you need to wonder, ‘Who will go up to heaven and bring it down to us so that we may hear it and keep it?’ Nor is it beyond the seas, so that you need to wonder, ‘Who will cross the seas for us so that we might hear it and keep it?’ No, the word is very near to you. It is in your mouth and in your heart” (Deuteronomy 30:11-14).

Jews call this word the Law; Christians call it the Logos or the blueprint; Taoists call it the Eternal Tao; Buddhists call it Emptiness or the Great Compassion; Hindus call it Brahman; Sufi Muslims call it the dance; and science speaks of universal theories. But we are all pointing to one underlying and universal truth that we all strive toward in ten thousand ways.

Gateway to Silence:
May I love with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Reference:
Adapted from Immortal Diamond: The Search for Our True Self, pp. 116, 136-138

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