Becoming More Spiritual – Part 3

There is just so much to this subject; the more I think about it, the more questions I have and the more I want to be part of a like-minded community.

2 Samuel 16: 14 says, “The King and all the people with him arrived at their destination exhausted.  And there he refreshed himself.”  The literal translation for that verse is he ‘re-souled himself.’  This suggests more than just a good night’s sleep, and good strong coffee in the morning along with a farmer’s breakfast and he took a few naps the next day.

He probably did experience those things but knowing David as we do through his writings, I have the feeling there was much more to the refreshing business.  I don’t think David did a bunch of stuff during that time; I think he ‘let God” do a bunch of stuff for him.

He let God re-soul him.
He let God be God.
He let God be real to him.
He rested in God’s refreshing presence and Grace.
He just was.

Recently, for four mornings, I got to wake up in a room with a spectacular view of the beach. That view literally helped me re-soul myself. I needed to bask in the beauty of God’s creation. I need beauty in my life because there is so much of life that is rather un-beautiful at times.  I live in a not-so-great neighborhood and my views are old apartment buildings and really messy balconies.  I can see the sky off my balcony and at night it is beautiful.  For those mornings on the beach, I would sit on the deck in the early morning hours wrapped in a blanket with my dog on my lap and a cup of coffee in my hand and just stared at the water.  I praised God in my heart, and soaked up the beauty, the sounds and the smell of the sea and felt my soul heal.

Any time I have in nature does that for me.  Today I will be driving through the Redwoods and then just moments later the beach will appear again and I know I will be re-souled in both places.

My soul can be re-souled at home as well. After a busy work week, I can hardly wait for Saturday mornings when I can sit alone and listen.  I have the luxury of living alone (and to me it is a luxury) and this is when I recharge.

Another way I re-soul is when I have the courage and the time to listen to the spiritual hungers inside of me.  I am usually trying to satisfy those hungers with other things but the real, true, spiritual hunger from God is left alone.  Even though we may be very faithful in reading our Bible’s every day or praying every day, we may not be addressing the deeper hunger because we either don’t even know what it is or we may not know what to do about it if we did know.  Genene Roth writes in “Women, Food, and God” about ‘disengaging from the habitual way you might be avoiding the deeper issues and begin paying attention to the deeper song, the deeper truth.  You without your story of you.  It’s been in the background every moment of your life, but since you were paying attention to the foreground, to the changing appearances and drama and feelings; you never noticed it.’  Becoming more spiritual involves listening and observing our own thoughts, actions, and reactions in a much more conscious way and finding God there where He was all along.

I don’t know what process works for you but this I do know; you will know it when you find it.