| A Few Questions by Alice Houghtaling This week has been an interesting one. Our local newspapers have lately been featuring a series entitled: “Focus on Faith.” Once a month a person whom someone else has identified as a person of faith is interviewed and, together with a picture, the article is printed. I was asked to be that person a couple of weeks ago. It has stimulated a lot of conversation at work (I work in a lumberyard), and uncovered a lot of stuff within me to think about. It has also encouraged a few strangers to call and talk with me about their spiritual lives. (We arranged to talk after work to be fair to our employers and co-workers.) A couple of people wanted to talk about their experiences of God that were more of a visionary nature – a mystic experience. Both of these people are ordinary folk for whom these experiences have become a focal point for their lives. They continue to do the ordinary things we human beings do: Eat, sleep, work, have relationships, play, etc. All the while, these experiences color their lives. What to do about them? What do they mean? Why me? What does God want of me? On a hunch that others have had similar experiences and not talked about them with someone they can trust, I’d like to offer some thoughtful questions. These questions come from my experiences and from my own philosophy of life, as I believe that mystic experiences should lead the one who experiences them into a full and meaningful life. These questions are simply the way I see things. Therefore, venture into the questions with a discerning ear as to whether or not they have any value for you. How have my experiences helped me to grow into a more lovingly patient person? Have I been successful at increasingly becoming a more tolerant person? Have the experiences I’ve had helped me to enjoy as complete a physical health as is possible for me? How am I experiencing myself working more productively and practically in my own mind? My experience is that my life contains many areas: there’s a physical life, a mental life, an emotional life, a spiritual life, a social life, etc. The experiences of God should eventually help us to blend and weave these separate areas of life together to support who we are and who we are becoming. How are my experiences of God helping me to more fully and joyfully live, work, play, and serve other people? We are not isolated beings. We are created to live and be in community. How am I using my experiences of God to nurture and sustain me as I go about faithfully every day doing the commonplace tasks of human existence? I believe that it matters whether we are increasingly becoming more and more willingly reliable, trustworthy, caring, courageous, compassionate, thoughtful. Am I a better mate, parent, son or daughter, sibling, worker, volunteer, citizen, today than I was yesterday? I believe that life is all about “growing, learning, becoming.” My experiences of God should never lead me into isolation for more than a few days. Any more than that can have an unhealthy effect – leading away from community rather than towards it. My experiences of God should never destroy my sense of humor. A deepening sense of trust and security in my relationship with God should be blossoming in my heart and mind.
I hope, as you to do your work of thinking through the experiences you have had and sort through what meanings and values they bring to your life, an interesting dialogue with yourself will result. Alice Houghtaling is a member of the Society of Friends (Quaker), a trained labyrinth facilitator, a graduate of the Guild for Spiritual Guidance, and a graduate of Shalem Institute's Contemplative Group Leadership Program. She works full time as Office Manager and Manager of Accounts Payable for a local lumberyard in her community. She also leads contemplative prayer groups and contemplative retreats with various Protestant denominations and with a local Catholic retreat center. For more about this author: Click AUTHORS |
