All of the Bible and all of spiritual writing begins with "conversion" -- which simply means "turning." At some point, we all face the moment of turning: turning our faces and our souls from the things of this world to the things of God: no longer seeking admiration, love, attention, ambition, power, control, satisfaction from the people and things around us--but drawing close to God and seeking His attention, seeking the kingdom of God rather than the kingdom of this world.
As long as we are seeking anything from someone else or from something else but God, we will find disappointment. Nothing else can satisfy us at the deepest level of our existence except God. Our life's journey may be a series of discoveries of the things that we thought would make us happy, but don't. So many people are angry and unhappy because someone or some thing has failed to satisfy them, but we are made in such a way that this physical and even intellectual world cannot complete us. We have a spiritual nature, and only the Spirit of God can fill us to overflowing to the world around us.
Many, many things point the way to God and give us hints of the joy that awaits us, but if we just stop at the signposts of nature's beauty, of the love of family and friends, at reading or study, and never find communion with God through these signs, they will ultimately fail us also.
Our physical bodies need food and exercise and sexual satisfaction, but none of these things are God; we use them, but do not worship them as ends in themselves. Our souls need intellectual stimulation and affection and emotional balance, but again, if we try to "latch onto" any of these things as the end of our existence, they will also fail to satisfy us ultimately.
It is our spirits that need water on a daily basis, and Jesus said that He was the Source of that Living Water. No other prophet in the world-- Mohammed, Buddha, Indian gurus, etc. -- have promised or even suggested that if we come to them, they will give us Living Water, springing up to eternal life and flowing out of our bellies (core of our existence). They can give us spiritual practices which soothe our bodies and souls (minds and emotions) temporarily, but only temporarily, as long as we continue the practice. But none of them have said, "I will be with you always, even to the end of the world." The initiative is always on our part, not on theirs. Only Jesus offers us His initiative, His Spirit, to continue the work in us.
At the time of my life when I was searching the most, I first tried yoga. It helped as long as I could sit undisturbed in a meditative position and hum. But three babies did not allow for much sitting and humming; the bits of sleep I could snatch here and there seemed more soothing to mind and body. Then I tried Transcendental Meditation, Yokefellow, and then Universal Unitarianism -- all of which promised that positive thinking, primal screaming, and holy thoughts would drive out depression and despair.
How does a person live from workshop to workshop, from therapy to therapy session? Everything depended on my own ability to maintain equilibrium in the practice du jour. Now, I am glad that I tried all these things; otherwise, I would not know how much they failed to satisfy me at the deepest level of my soul -- at the level of spirit.
When the Holy Spirit entered my life, He brought joy without ceasing, laughter in the place of deep mourning, beauty for ashes, and peace not as the world gives. Isaiah says this:
Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
who depends on flesh for his strength
and whose heart turns away from the Lord.
He will be like a bush in the wastelands;
he will not see prosperity when it comes.
He will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
in a salt land where no one lives.
But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in Him.
He will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit (17:5-8).
No amount of New Age "practice" could have given me the peace that the "world cannot give." That kind of peace and joy flow directly from the heart of Jesus to the believer, the one who has surrendered his/her life to Him. It is an active, dynamic, and overcoming peace; it flows continually from Him to the soil of our souls, softening it and making it ready to receive the things of God. The seed planted in that soul/soil will bear much fruit.
I am so thankful I chose the better part. All the glory to God. Nothing can satisfy like the Holy Spirit. I desire to be fine tuned so I wont miss the promptings.
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