What Suzuki discerned about music is so true about life in general, and especially true of the spiritual life. The one part of our souls that tends to be blocked in its "flow," or expression, is the spirit that God has placed in us. It is the most fragile, the most delicate, the most easily damaged, part of us -- and also the most beautiful.
Yesterday, I wrote that God wants to reveal Himself to each one of us; He wants direct, Spirit-to-spirit communication with us. He wants the kind of energy-exchange that most of us will truly experience only when we fall deeply and sincerely in love for the first time. He wants openness, not fear. He wants us to be able to open our hearts fully to Him, as lovers exchange freely and fully all that is in them without fear --- and He wants us to be able to hear fully and freely what He has to say to us.
When Jesus was baptized as an adult, the Spirit descended on Him in the form of a dove, and he and others around him heard the Father speak: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Before that time, Jesus listened, studied, prayed, and asked questions in the Temple, was instructed by his parents, who had great stories to tell of his birth, the flight into Egypt, and the revelation of Simeon and Anna in the Temple. He knew....He knew... that He was the annointed one, but now He hears directly from God. Now He is led by the Spirit into the desert -- alone-- to hear the Voice of God speaking words not only for Himself, but for others. And there, maybe for the first time also, he also encounters the voice of Satan, the tempter.
When we fully open our own spirits to hear the Voice of God, it is possible that we also will hear the voice of the Tempter. How do we know the difference, for Satan can and does appear as 'An Angel of Light," deceiving even the elect, if possible?
In the authentic, genuine, Christian life, there is a discernible flow of energy that is from God: by their fruits you will know them. This is a long explanation, involving several steps that I will begin tomorrow with a diagram of the energy flow of what Watchman Nee called The Normal Christian Life and Sit, Walk, and Stand. These two books are amazingly clear and simple explanations of the Christian life, and even though I read both of them about 35 years ago and not since, I can still recall his explanations. I recommend them to everyone who is interested in how the Spirit works.
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