Meditations on Various Aspects of the Spiritual Life

In this little book I have put down a few meditations on various aspects of our spiritual life, and have dealt with those difficulties which every man of God will necessarily meet with as he passes through the different stages of his spiritual life.

Possibly all may not agree with my views on some of the questions dealt with.. It would be strange if they did. For as no two men are exactly alike in form and feature, and as all are not equal in their powers of hearing or seeing, so each man’s apprehension of spiritual truth will be conditioned by his temperament, his experience, and his spiritual outlook. It is not likely that there will be divergent views on fundamental principles, but there very probably will be on non-essential points. For God in revealing His Will takes each man’s spiritual state and capacity into account. Hence what may seem to one as in advance of the times may to another appear to be out of date and unnecessary.

Further, many fail to grasp the meaning of those God-revealed facts, which some man, living in union with God and illuminated by Him, has recorded. Without having had any very definite experience of enjoying God themselves, they set out to champion their doctrines about Him, and fight over the husks of non-essentials as dogs do over dry bones. But those who have enjoyed fellowship and union with God and have been lifted above these unprofitable wranglings, bring out of the storehouse of their own personal experience “‘ things new and old”

to which they testify without a thought as to whether others will agree or not.

My sincere thanks are due to the Rev. T. E. Riddle, who has again assisted me in translating this book from Urdu into English; and also to Miss E. Sanders for her great help in reading and correcting the proof.

1. Ir was not for rest alone that the Master took His three chosen disciples to the mountain top. It was that there they might catch a glimpse of the reality of the glory of His divine nature, for the revelation of which their daily contact with Him had been a preparation. They had seen His miracles, and had heard those wonderful words, which no man ever before had spoken; but more was needed than that they should stay there in adoration and amazed wonder. It was very necessary that they should leave their crowded days, and in the mountain’s quiet solitude contemplate the transcendent glory of His divine Person. Again, the trans- figuring of His earthly form was not enough in itself. It was necessary, too, that their eyes should be opened, for without the opening of their spiritual eyes, neither could they have seen Christ’s face, nor could they have discerned the presence with them of Moses and of Elias. So, also, they had to have their ears opened, for without those opened ears they could not have heard of “ His decease which He should accomplish ’’, nor even have heard the voice of God Himself, which said, ‘‘ Hear Him ” (Luke ix. 28-36).

God became man in Christ, and speaks to — us through Him, and we must follow Him in all obedience without asking How? or Why? But we can never hear His sweet voice until we have closed our ears to the distracting voices of the world, nor can we meet and have fellowship with Him till we desire it with our whole hearts. If we ourselves are not silent, we cannot hear what others are saying, nor can we understand them fully, unless we give them our full attention. So, to hear the voice of our

Heavenly Father, we must wait in silence before Him with our whole mind and heart intent on Him; for He still reveals Himself to those who diligently seek Him. And not only this, but those who so seek will have the privilege of the communion of saints, as did those three apostles who, through their connection with Him, enjoyed the fellowship of Moses and Elias.

2. Nor must we seek this holy fellowship merely as a means of worldly advancement, as did those two disciples who petitioned for positions on the right and left of the King, when He should come in His glorious Kingdom (Mark x. 35-37). Contrast with this the better way of Mary, who sought not an exalted position by the throne, but was content to sit at the feet of the Lord Himself, and hear His life-giving words. So did she choose “‘ that good part, which shall not be taken away from her ” (Luke x. 39-42).

3. In meditation God speaks to our hearts, but not by words, and if we humbly bring our hearts to Him, the Well-spring of all

Life, He will flow into us with all the fullness of His Presence. As the spring fills the vessel placed beneath its overflow, so do the spirit and the true peace of God flow into the heart of him who makes his heart lowly to receive them.

Hugo has said: ‘‘ The way to ascend to God is to descend into oneself”.

“| dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit’ (Isaiah lvii. 15).

Hylton has these words: ‘ Christ is lost like the piece of money in the parable, but where?. In thy house, that is, in thy soul. Thou needest not run to Rome or Jerusalem to seek Him. He sleepeth in thy heart, as He did in the ship; awaken Him with the loud cry of thy desire. Howbeit I believe that thou sleepest oftener to Him than He to thee.”

So, after we have climbed into the solitude of the mountain of prayer, and have there met with Him, we are not to waste our time, as those disciples wished to do, in planning and building shelters, but, with our newfound power, we are to go back to the world of men to complete the work that has been given us to do.

1. From our experience we know how strong is the desire for God that is born in our hearts. As the hart is distressed till it finds the water-spring in the jungle, so the heart of man thirsts for God, and is restless till it finds Him. Although, in many ways, man tries to satisfy this inborn longing of his heart, yet this desire is never satisfied till he finds God. Only in Him Who has created both the heart and its desire can there be complete satisfaction. Homer hassaid: “As young birds open their mouths for food, so all men crave for the gods ”’.

Once on a journey in the Hills I sat down to rest on a rock. Below the rock was a bush in which was a bird’s nest, from which I heard the cry of the young birds. I saw that the mother-bird had come with food for them, and as soon as they heard the rustling of her wings they began to cry out, but when the mother had given them food, and had flown away, they were all quiet again. I went down to see the nest and found that, though they were not old enough to have their eyes open, yet without seeing their mother they used to open their mouths at her approach. Had they said, “ Until we shall see our mother or our food, we shall never open our mouths, for we do not know if it is our mother or an enemy; or if she has in her mouth food or poison,” then they would certainly not have had an opportunity, for before their eyes had opened they would have died of hunger. But they had no kind of doubt about their mother’s love, and, after a few days, when their eyes would open, they would be happy in seeing their dear mother, and, growing stronger and stronger in her likeness, before long would be able to fly away in the open air.

Let us consider if we, who are called the noblest of all creatures, are not inferior to these insignificant nestlings, for often we have had doubt in our minds about the existence and love of our Heavenly Father. Jesus said, ‘‘ Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed ”’ (John xx. 29). We, who open our hearts for God, receive from Him spiritual food, and, in time, shall reach our full size, and, when we see Him face to face, we shall be happy in His presence for ever.

2. A story is told of a wise man who met three men on the road. ‘The first man was pale and withered and stricken with fear. He asked him, “‘ How is it that you are in such an evil state?’ He answered, “‘ The thought always troubles me that I may be cast into the fire of hell.” The sage said, “It is very sad that instead of the fear of God, which is the beginning of wisdom, you have fear of a created thing (hell-fire). Your worship is not true. It is a kind of bribe which you offer in the hope of saving yourself from hell-fire.”

The second man sat consumed with grief and anxiety. The sage asked, “‘ Why are you so sad and full of grief?’ He replied, ““T dread lest I should be deprived of the joy and rest of heaven.” The wise man answered, “ It is a shame that you have left the thought of the Creator, and His wonderful love, and only worship God out of a desire to gain heaven, which was created by Him.”

After talking with these two men he met a third, who was very happy and contented. He asked him, “* What is the secret of your joy and peace?’”’ He said, “ My constant prayer to Him, Who taught me to worship God in spirit and in truth, is, that He may grant me that I may love Him with heart and soul, and may serve and worship Him by love alone. Should I worship Him from fear of hell, may I be cast into it. Should I serve Him from desire of gaining heaven, may He keep me out; but should I worship

Him from love alone, may He reveal Himself to me, that my whole heart may be filled with His love and presence.”

3. If, instead of seeking God, we set our hearts on getting His created things, and try to gain material things instead of Him, then we have indeed forsaken the Creator of all things. But the time will come when we shall leave even the created things, and nothing will remain except our sin-blighted and worthless lives. But if we turn away our hearts from all material things, and turn to God, then with Him we shall get all other things. The worldly man, who seeks not God but self, will in the end find that nothing remains for him save his punishment and his unblessed life. In seeking himself he loses all. He neither finds God nor does he find himself.

1. Arueists deny the existence of God, but none of them can prove that there is no God. If, for the time being, we were to admit that the atheists’ unsupported contention is true, it would only add further proof of their ignorance rather than of their wisdom and truth; because if, as they say, there is no God, then it is useless to waste time in attempting to prove the non-existence of that which does not really exist. ‘Thus to waste time that might be more profitably spent at other things is nothing but foolishness. If God exists—as all spiritually enlightened men well know that He does— then it is still greater foolishness to try to prove concerning this Creator and Father of all that He does not exist. ‘‘ The fool hath said in his heart, ‘ There is no God’ ” (Ps. xiv. 1). By asserting this he does not prove the non-existence of God at all, but proves his own spiritual blindness, and his inability, to know Him. As he puts forward his convincing reasons he will be like a feeble insect, trying by the force of its arguments to prove the non-existence of the sun—reasons which would be without force for all save one born blind.

But one may argue that, if in our belief in any personality or thing we spread harmful superstitions, then it is our duty to try to eliminate such beliefs. But has a belief in God ever been a cause of harm to any one? Never! On the other hand, unnumbered blessings flowing out of the fear and love of God have enriched believers. There can be no greater folly than to write or speak against the Spring of All Life, for, by doing so, not only do we dishonour Him, and sin against Him, but we deprive others of the knowledge of the true nature of God, and involve them as well as ourselves in destruction.

2. Agnostics neither believe in the existence of God, nor do they disbelieve. They say we neither know, nor can we know. But this is a mistake, for every desire that, we have is given for a special purpose, and we should have had created in us no desire to believe in God, unless He truly exists Who can meet that desire.

Although born from a mother, a child has a distinct existence of his own. In his own little way he loves his mother dearly, but he does not know his mother as well as she knows and loves him. As he develops he gets to know her better, and is able to enter more fully into the enjoyment of her society. In the same way, our knowledge would have to be infinite for us to know the Infinite God as we should, but this does not mean that we can never know Him at all, for at all phases of our progress we can know Him, and can enjoy His life-giving presence. For the present what need is there to know more than this? While, in all the future, as we continue to grow in spiritual stature, so we shall continue to learn more and more of Him. There is no reason for us to be impatient, if, in our present state, we do not understand Him fully, because there is infinite time before us in which to know the Infinite God. If we walk according to the light that we have, it is enough for the present for us to know Him in relation to the needs of that phase of our progress to which we have now reached.

3. If it were necessary for us at our present stage to know God perfectly, then He would have provided to meet that need; for God always makes provision of that which is good and useful to meet His creatures’ actual need. He wants, too, that we may perseveringly try to know more of Him, because it is more profitable for us to try to learn by ourselves, through the urge of our own interest, than that we should have knowledge of Him given to us cut and dried. Marcel says: ‘‘ What the learner discovers by mental exertion is better known than what is told to him”. We can reach only a partial knowledge of anything, and never know it as it really is until we have thought it through in our own consciousness. “He who would know before he believeth cometh never to the true knowledge.... I speak of a certain truth which it is possible to know by experience, but which ye must believe in before ye know it by experience else ye will never come to know it truly” (Theologia Germanica).

Some philosophers say that God is unknowable. This again is meaningless, because the very knowledge that He is unknowable is itself based on an inference from the limited knowledge of Him that they possess. Because if God is beyond our knowledge, then how has the knowledge that He is unknowable come to us? “ The existence of knowledge is, in fact, afirmed in the very act of its denial.”

4. Apart altogether from our knowledge of the Being of God, what we know of the insignificant created things around us is very partial. We know, perhaps, a few of their outward characteristics, but nothing of their real inner lives, and, indeed, we know next to nothing of our own selves. If a man could obtain full knowledge of his own being, then there would be little difficulty in knowing God, in Whose likeness he has been created. The mutual relation between God and man is such, that, in order to know one it is necessary to know the other. ‘“‘ We can only know what is akin to ourselves”, and had man not been made like God he could never aspire to know Him. Some one has said: “‘ It is proved that God can be known only by God’. And God became man that He might take away man’s fallen nature, and restore him to his real nature (Ps. lxxxii. 6). “As Saint Athanase has said: ““He became man that we might be made God”.

God lifted. men out of their fallen state, and made them His messengers and flames of fire (Heb. i. 7). God is Spirit and Fire

(Matt. iii. 11). To become like flames of fire means to become like God, because “‘ the smallest flame has all the quality of fire”’. But this does not mean that God and Man are one Spirit, as is held by those Pantheists and Philosophers who say “that the various souls or selves are mere fragmentary manifestations of the Absolute”. The commingling of God with His creation does not satisfy the craving of the soul, but we find real and eternal happiness in His communion and fellowship.

5. God never discourages any seeker after truth by saying that he or his beliefs are wrong, but He so orders it that by degrees the man himself learns to recognise his errors and distinguish the truth. The story is told of a poor grass-cutter who found a beautiful stone in the jungle. He had often heard about diamonds, and thought this was one. He took it to the jeweller’s shop and showed it with delight to the _ jeweller. Being a kind and sympathetic man, the jeweller saw that if he were to tell the grass-cutter that his stone was not a diamond, either he would not believe it, or it would be such a shock to him that his whole hope would be brought down to the dust. The jeweller, therefore, laid his plans so that the poor man might find out his mistake for himself. He gave him some work in his shop, and kept him there till he began to be able to distinguish the varieties of diamonds and their prices. Then the jeweller told him to bring along his stone. Up till this time the grass-cutter had kept it carefully hidden away in a box. He now opened it out, and saw with amazement that it was worthless. He turned pale, and came and fell at the feet of his kind master, and said, ““I am very thankful for your goodness and sympathy. You did not destroy my hope, but made such a plan that I now know my mistake without any one’s help. Now I want to stay always with such a master, and spend the rest of my life in your service.” This is how God brings back to the way of truth those who have wandered away into error, so that when they learn the truth for themselves they will follow Him, and give Him the service of their whole lives.

6. People are often so foolish and ignorant that they imagine they are conferring a great favour on God, and on His ministers, when they attend the worship of His house. But those who go to worship with such an idea can have no appreciation of the real nature of God. They are like those foolish professional beggars who are ignorant of the motive of him who gives them bread to relieve their hunger. Instead of being thankful to him they think they have done him a great favour by giving him an opportunity to add to the merit of his good deeds by giving alms to the poor. ‘They are such fools that they do not know that they have done themselves, and their appetites, a great favour, and from the bottom of their hearts should be thankful to him who has relieved their hunger.

7. The Creator has given to man intellect, feeling, and the will. To get strength to serve God a man needs to chew his spiritual food with the teeth of intellect, but instead of using his intellectual powers wisely he often wastes them on vain speculations. A dog that finds a dry bone often gnaws it till it lacerates his mouth. Then as he gets the taste of the blood for a time he keeps on gnawing with relish, without knowing that it is his own blood; so, too, man wastes his God-given intellectual gifts on useless speculations. Spiritual feelings have also been given that he may feel and enjoy God’s presence, but, through the deadening influence of disobedience and sin, he loses his perception of God and his capacity to enjoy Him. Such people do not see beyond their selfish selves, and have no feeling at all for the presence of God. Hence in the end they become confirmed in their disbelief in God. In the same way, if man’s will follows a course contrary to the will of God it becomes enslaved to sin, and, not being free, leads on to spiritual suicide.

8. The water of a river that rises in one land flows through many different territories before it returns to the sea from which it was originally drawn. It passes within the borders of many chiefs and rajahs and princes. Yet no one can stop it within his territories, for it is not his possession. It is the common property of all, and wherever it goes it quenches the thirst of all. So, too, the stream of the water of life comes forth from the infinite ocean of God, and flowing through the divine channels of prophets and apostles irrigates the whole. world, quenching the thirst of all and enriching and making fruitful the lives of all peoples and nations. ‘‘ And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely ” (Rev. xxil. 17).