Experiential Knowledge/Father Jean-Pierre de Caussade

"We can only be truly instructed by the words which God speaks to us personally. No one grows in knowledge of God either by reading books or by curious historical research. These means give us but a vain and empty knowledge, which serves only to confuse us and inflate us with pride

We only know perfectly that which we have learned by experience through suffering or action. This is the school of the Holy Spirit, who speaks the words of life to the heart; and all that we say to others should come from this source. Whatever we read, whatever we see, becomes divine knowledge only by the fruitfulness, the virtue the light which this experience gives. Without this experiential knowledge, all our learning is like unleavened dough, lacking the salt and the seasoning of experience. Without this experiential knowledge, we have only vague, untried ideas to act on, we are like the dreamer who, through knowing all the highways of the world, misses the road to his own house.

Therefore we have only to listen to God from moment to moment in order to become learned in the knowledge by which the saints lived, which is all practice and experience.

Set aside what is said to others, but listen to what is said to you and for you; you will find enough in that to exercise your faith, because this interior language of God, by its very obscurity, exercises, purifies and increases your faith."

                             ~ Father Jean-Pierre de Caussade, The Joy of Full Surrender

Reading this just reminds me of the importance to live and experience life actively, thus experiencing all of its facets and becoming an actor on life's stage, not just an observer. It's hard sometimes to step out in faith and serve God through our actions but when we do we are exposed to experiences that, through  guidance of the Spirit, can give us tremendous insights that wouldn't have been achieved by reading another's account of that same experience. We need to have our own experiences so that God can work uniquely through our hearts in the ways that will invoke a relationship between us and the Spirit, between student and teacher. To live out our faith and not just read about other's isn't always easy. The Spirit will train our hearts to conform our will to God's if we let it carve off our false attachments, illusions...if we let it mold our egos so that God is glorified more and we are glorified less in our minds. The Spirit will help teach our hearts purity, humility and deeper levels of love and compassion. The Spirit is our guide to becoming more and more like Jesus.

I think this passage also provides a healthy perspective when it comes to seeking knowledge about God. Words that I have chosen to read over and over again for I surely need to be continually reminded of them! I love to read books from writers and theologians of our faith. My heart and soul thirsts for God...I want to know all I can about Him and experience Him to the fullest. I have found times though when I  have to stop and think about what I'm reading. Oftentimes, I find myself entering Scripture less and less as I dive more and more into the words written by man. In those times I find my mind wrestling with theological questions rather than entering into simple devotion for our God. I find my soul inattentive to the whispers of the Spirit and more attentive to my own desires. That's when I need to take a break from man's written words and return like a prodigal child back into God's.

I've found that when I go back to Scriptures, in repentance for seeking answers outside of His Word, that like an eternal spring of the most filtered and pure water, the Spirit rises up within me filling me with insight, peace, and yes-knowledge, far beyond what any book written by any theologian can supply.

Proverbs 1:7 says:

⁷ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
   but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

It's my belief that when we go back to the simple and pure reverence of God, the fear of the Lord, that that begins an active relationship between our souls and the Spirit, providing spiritual manna and true knowledge of God.

Heavenly Father,

Help us lean not on our own knowledge but help us to continually seek Yours, inclining our ears towards understanding and living each moment attentive to the teachings and whisperings of Your holy Spirit. Give us the courage to be participants in the world, not just observers of it and may the meditations of our heart and the outward expressions of them be pleasing to You.

We give You all honor, glory and praise.

In Jesus' name,

Amen.

The Present Moment: A Living Prayer

"Men invent means and methods of coming at God's love, they learn rules and set up devices to remind them of that love, and it seems like a world of trouble to bring oneself into the consciousness of God's presence. Yet it might be so simple. Is it not quicker and easier just to do our common business wholly for the love of him?"
           ~ Brother Lawrence

Life isn't always glorious. In fact, most of the time, for many of us, our days are consumed by pretty much the same routines. If we think God can only be found in the "glorious" or "extraordinary" moments , we will surely be missing out in experiencing more of the peace that surpasses all understanding, the peace that we are blessed with, when we enter into His presence. God's reality is in the present moment. His will manifests itself there, and to find union with Him, to praise Him, worship and experience Him, in the here and now, brings Him glory and helps us grow in our walks with Him.

God never denies the seeker, and if you seek God and His love, He will bless you with it in more ways than you can even imagine. Let our lives, every moment of them, be an expression of simple devotion and love for our God.

The present moment is like an ambassador who declares the will of God. The heart must ever answer, “Let it be so.” Then the soul will go steadily on by all means towards its target and goal – never pausing in its course, spreading its sails to all winds. All routes and methods advance it equally in its journey toward the great sea, the infinite. Everything becomes an instrument of sanctification. The soul always finds the “one thing needful” in the present moment....

...the one thing needful is simply what comes to the soul each moment by the will of God. This includes the stripping, the self-denial, the renunciation of earthly things, in order that the soul may be nothing in itself or live for itself, but may live wholly by God’s will, and at His good pleasure content itself with the duty of the present moment, as though that were the one thing in the whole world.

To hallow the name of God is, in the language of Scripture, to love Him, adore Him, and to recognize His holiness in all things. Things, like words, do indeed proceed from the mouth of God. The events of each moment are divine thoughts expressed by created objects. Thus, all those things by which He makes His will known to us are so many names, so many words by which He shows us His will. In itself, this will is one, singular; it bears but one unknown, ineffable name; but it is multiplied infinitely in its effects and takes on their names.

   To hallow the name of God is to know, adore, and love the Ineffable One expressed by this name. It is also to know, adore and love His blessed will at all times, in all its effects, seeing all things as so many veils, shadows and names of this eternally holy will. It is holy in all its works, holy in all its words, holy in all its forms of manifestation, holy in all the names it bears.

...How insignificant is this precious moment in the eyes of the world, yet how great to the eye enlightened by faith! And can I call that little which is great in the eye of my Father who reigns in heaven? All that comes from there is most excellent. All that decends from there bears the imprint of its origin.

         ~ Father Jean-Pierre de Caussade - Purchase The Joy of Full Surrender



Heavenly Father,

Thank You for Your great mercy and Your great love. A love that manifests itself in the reality of every moment. May we seize each moment as an opportunity to experience Your presence, to have by Your grace the eyes of our hearts opened so that we may see Your Will for us, that we may serve You to our fullest and bring you great glory. Help us not get caught up in the things of this world. Let us lay down our attachments, our egos, the things of this world which we cling to, and simply open our hearts to You so that they may be filled with Your light and love. May everything we do, every seemingly mundane task, be a living prayer to our great God. May our lives be an expression of our devotion and love for You.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever.
Amen.