Christians can experience God in many different ways. It may be in a dream, in prayer, a voice, a vision, or some moment of enlightenment. However, not all that comes after can be said to come from the Holy Spirit. It may be the result of a nerve condition or mental problem. Consequently the need to discern these occurrences.
The writer recalls 20 years previously his ordination and his pastoral assignment with vocation work. Overnight he became a dispenser of learning after years of being a receptor. For several months, he was burdened with his assignment then one day in May he awoke before the rising bell at 5:00 am, wide awake, and prepared himself for chapel, morning prayers, and Mass.
On the path passing the green grass in the monastery garden, the fresh clean air permeated his whole being. At that moment he felt suddenly overcome with energy that suffused him completely. He couldn't help but remain present to what was happening to him as if in another location. It was something he had never experienced before. How long it lasted he doesn't know.
Suddenly all came back to normal and all his surroundings appeared, but different from before. And from deep inside came the words: "I am going to the church to pray, every day I can do this how blessed I am." The following line from the psalms came to mind: One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. That I may see the delight of the Lord and may visit his temple (27:4).
Was this not a beautiful experience? This spiritual moment gave him a new understanding of his calling and the meaning of prayer. However, although this was a precious moment in his life never to be forgotten, now it is gone and over. God will come to him in his spiritual journey in other ways.
There are many others with similar encounters. In receiving the Eucharist, in prayer, on pilgrimage, on retreat. Are these moments of being one with God?
These moments of feeling oneness with God are gifts on our spiritual journey. They are moments of awakening and change in our spiritual journey only when they are considered nothing. When they are seen only as the finger pointing out the sun. When they become all important and the center of one's interest you fall into spiritual pride.
As St. Paul says: "Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good(1 Cor. 12:7). The writer wants us to remember these words.
The results of the experience should energize one to be more zealous in their discipleship, and in expressing the fruit of their love and not dwell on the experience but forget it. When we become attached to that encounter we will miss him coming into our lives today. God is imminent in our lives and is inviting us in many different ways to come to him.
When we try to empty our hearts, in prayer and moderation, in love for others, sharing and keeping God as the center of our focus, God will enlighten us.
At times God will come into our lives like a quiet gentle breeze. He is always with us and appears to us in the lives of others and in nature. Even when we are in difficulties and in the dark, we should be waiting for his movements in our lives.
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