A Vision of Wholeness – An Extract from Quiet Courage of the Inner Light read by Philip Pelger

Philip reads an extract from the chapter ‘A Vision of Wholeness’, from his new book ‘Quiet Courage of the Inner Light – Finding faith and fortitude in an age of anxiety. In the reading, we are inviting to look closely at our experience of anxiety, dread and terror and notice the inclusive nature of our own awareness of such experiences and to see the wholeness of the life that we are.

 

Part 2 – Reflections on Readings from Quiet Courage of the Inner Light

Author Philip Pegler reads the chapter ‘Keys to Freedom’ from his new book, ‘Quiet Courage of the Inner Light – Finding faith and fortitude in an age of anxiety’ and reflects in conversation with Mike Jenkins on the freedom available in the essence of our own consciousness and on the often considerable barriers we meet along the path to our inner light, courage and faith.

Reflections on Readings from Quiet Courage of the Inner Light Part 1

Author Philip Pegler reads from his new book, Quiet Courage of the Inner Light – Finding faith and fortitude in an age of anxiety. Philip reads from the chapter, World Behind Walls and reflects on his experience of caring for patients on a secure hospital ward in the 1970’s and later, in Part 2, on his own experience as a patient.

Radical Challenge – A Kind of Alchemy

Amid the chaos of the current global health crisis, Philip Pegler writes about the upcoming publication of his latest book:

Quiet Courage of the Inner Light ~ Finding faith and fortitude in an age of anxiety.

He reflects how a shift in our response to threatening circumstances can provide a firm foundation of resilience, peace and courage that can transform our experience of adversity.

Publication of this volume is due just as the entire world is engaged in a fierce struggle to respond to the most terrible pandemic for years. In these dire circumstances my original book title (chosen several years ago) could hardly be more apposite – and at least it can be regarded as suggesting a positive way forward, enabling us to draw some important lessons from apparent catastrophe.

Perhaps an overwhelming medical emergency such as the current crisis represents was bound to come at some point in a world that has, for many years, been under intense pressure to sustain humanity. There are some commentators already beginning to look at the opportunities the crisis presents our global cultures to learn from past mistakes, to cooperate in a spirit of friendship for the common good and to let go of ways of living that no longer serve us and the planet that gives us life. The scourge of what has become the Coronavirus Pandemic may simply be Nature’s grim way of restoring the balance.

I personally find it helpful to look at things in that way and perhaps an insight like this might enable many different people of goodwill to come to the most helpful conclusion of all – that we do indeed need to radically change our ways if mankind is to survive and prosper in the
long term. The Coronavirus crisis could be regarded as a cloud with a silver lining – even if the blessing has been concealed in a fearsome disguise.

If we can only learn to adopt a positive attitude in the midst of all our difficulties, our own experiences can become transformed in the most profound way. After a lifetime spent in the quest for authentic spirituality, I am convinced that good things can emerge from the worst of afflictions. It is a liberating thought that sheds unfailing light on the path.

When we face the hammer blows of misfortune in a spirit of fortitude, something dark and rigid shifts deep within us. Gradually to our surprise and relief, we may find a more enduring peace of mind and a stability that cannot be so easily shaken. It is kind of alchemy – the transmutation of lead into gold.

 

Quiet Courage of the Inner Light

An excerpt from ‘Quiet Courage of the Inner Light’ by Philip Pegler
The world is evidently in crisis – and it is above all an existential crisis of perception. It constitutes a kind of entrenched misunderstanding, related to widespread confusion about human consciousness and identity, the true nature of which has not yet been apprehended by mainstream society.

 

Available at Amazon

 

 

A Crisis of Perception

An excerpt from ‘Quiet Courage of the Inner Light’ by Philip Pegler.

The world is evidently in crisis – and it is above all an existential crisis of perception. It constitutes a kind of entrenched misunderstanding, related to widespread confusion about human consciousness, the true nature of which has not yet been apprehended by mainstream society.

The ways we have been taught to regard problems – the attitudes underlying our basic approach to the challenges of living – are all too often confrontational, inadequate or misplaced. And this is usually because our conceptions of what represents happiness and success are partial and divisive in their failure to comprehend the totality of life – and to embrace it in practical concern with a mature understanding of its inherent sanctity.

In short, we have forgotten how to find true harmony and ease in life, caught up as we are in busy and stressful occupations, with hardly any time for calm and considered reflection. Contemporary society in the West has largely lost touch with the cultural roots that sustained it in former days. That is the origin of our current troubles, which continue to usher in so much unnecessary hardship.

Something has had to give – and it is the remorseless disintegration of failing structures of power and authority that seems to be taking place. Excessively large and moribund organisations are finally losing credibility, because the arrogant manner by which the resources of the earth have been regarded and managed hitherto is at last being called into question more widely.

The abundance of the earth is not there to be squandered at our selfish discretion; the fertility of the earth does not exist,

solely to be exploited in the cause of technological progress, or in the name of endless economic expansion – at any cost. These self- evident truths are becoming ever more broadly acknowledged.

Indeed, the scope and penetration of global media reporting is so great nowadays that you no longer need to be especially clear-sighted to realise that contemporary society has lost its way – and that the world’s eco-systems, are more gravely under threat than ever.

Catastrophic conditions on earth beyond imagining surely beckon, if humanity stubbornly refuses to change course towards a sustainable future. It is only a profound shift of attitude in support of a holistic world-view – and a decisive return to a sane and balanced reverence for all life – that can accomplish this.

A wholesale regeneration of the environment and the re- appraisal of moral imperatives are urgent tasks that can no longer be postponed. The challenges ahead are immensely daunting and yet there is still good reason for hope.

The noble aspiration to restore global harmony on all levels is now at the heart of a wholesome grassroots movement, which will accept nothing less than a radical change in perspective that can embrace global issues in the light of oneness.

When you look at the plight of humanity with the eyes of clarity and compassion, the world is made new for you – and your own vision of wholeness will encourage other people of goodwill to follow in your example. Maybe this is the only way by which enduring harmony and peace can ever become established on earth.

Quiet Courage of the Inner Light

An excerpt from ‘Quiet Courage of the Inner Light’ by Philip Pegler
The world is evidently in crisis – and it is above all an existential crisis of perception. It constitutes a kind of entrenched misunderstanding, related to widespread confusion about human consciousness and identity, the true nature of which has not yet been apprehended by mainstream society.

 

Available at Amazon

 

 

The Tipping Point 

An excerpt from ‘Quite Courage of the Inner Light’ by Philip Pegler. 

Life often appears to be utterly unsparing in its demands, but sometimes it does seem that hard knocks are needed to incline someone towards a life of greater faith, or more complete integrity.

Who can possibly say what might be required in any situation, to bring about this marked shift in a person’s attitude – a real change of heart? But often it is sudden trauma that tips the balance to bring about a vital change of direction and a radically fresh perspective. Losing a valued job, the breakdown of a cherished relationship, or the immense sadness of sudden bereavement – all of these are surely good enough reasons for depression, if not despair.

No facile explanation can ever satisfy an anguished demand for a proper answer to life’s unbearable dilemmas, but sometimes one knows from one’s own experience, that a stringent remedy in the form of a crisis, may be the only thing that will bring someone to their senses – if they have been pursuing what is clearly a mistaken or deeply damaging path for them or society.

Upheavals or reverses in fortune in life are never punishments as such, but they can represent a tough teaching, because it is never easy to witness the demolition of one’s resistance to the ongoing flow of events, which happen not to be to our liking.

I have previously written extensively about the healing power of pain, and I remain thoroughly convinced of the veracity of this approach that suggests that we often learn more effectively through difficulty than through ease.

The tipping point in my own life occurred without warning in early adulthood, when a promising career in the caring professions was abruptly cut short by a psychiatric breakdown.

I became seriously disturbed after a love affair with a fellow student had broken up in the middle of our nurse training.

I was exceptionally vulnerable at that point – and some understandable reasons were not far to find. I had been devastated by the premature death of my mother from cancer eight years earlier when I had just come of age; in addition – in common with many of my contemporaries in the 1960s – heedless sampling of psychedelic drugs around that time had left me susceptible to psychological problems.

And there was one more factor that had considerable bearing on my over-sensitive state of mind. I had recently returned from extensive travels in India where I had gone in quest of Truth. I had been exposed to rough living conditions and my physical health had been compromised; it would have been an unsettling time of transition for anyone.

I soon recovered from this initial breakdown, but I remained subject to periodic bouts of psychiatric instability for many years to come – although I was fine in between and continued to work normally in my new profession as an antiquarian bookseller.

I am thoroughly convinced that the psychiatric disturbances to which I had apparently become so liable, were closely connected with my intense, spiritual seeking, which was putting my sensitive nervous system under intolerable strain. Conventional medical opinion remains far from accepting such an alternative view of so-called mental illness, but the weight of evidence supports this far more compassionate approach to mental and emotional turmoil.

A counsel of perfection is always out of place, but it is obvious that without being completely honest with oneself, it is hardly possible to approach absolute integrity – through which one becomes completely straightforward and can appear fully trustworthy in the eyes of others too.

If you look closely enough, you will always get an immediate sense of whatever may have seriously gone amiss in your affairs.

To retain a realistic awareness of one’s deficiencies – to have a wounding knowledge of oneself – is one of the most valuable assets to be kept in reserve for when one is most under pressure.

And this is because, a genuine admission of where one may have gone wrong in one’s life, paves the way for profound renewal and makes a process of deep healing possible – despite how terrible things may still appear to be on the surface.

The most significant turning point for me personally, was the time I fully accepted what for me at that stage in my life, was the worst outcome possible – the loss of a career opportunity I had set my heart upon.

The key moment of release came the very second that I said ‘yes’ to the bitter disappointment I had undergone. It was one of the hardest choices, I had ever had to make. But something magically cleared deep within me then, and I could carry on at peace with whatever came next – no matter what it happened to be.

As later life unfolded, I gradually came to see that a tipping point need not remain confined to examples of personal crisis, but indeed refers to the entire world. A pioneering, contemporary teacher of mindfulness is Jon Kabatt Zinn. He writes most succinctly as follows about this very subject in his excellent book Coming to Our Senses:

You don’t necessarily have to surrender your life to bear witness to injustice and suffering. The more bearing witness while dwelling in open-hearted awareness becomes a way of life for all of us, the more the world will shift, because the world itself is none other than us. But it is sometimes, more often than not, a long slow process, the work of generations. And yet, at times, a tipping point is reached that could not be predicted even one moment before. And then things shift, rotate, transform – and very quickly.

Quiet Courage of the Inner Light

An excerpt from ‘Quiet Courage of the Inner Light’ by Philip Pegler
The world is evidently in crisis – and it is above all an existential crisis of perception. It constitutes a kind of entrenched misunderstanding, related to widespread confusion about human consciousness and identity, the true nature of which has not yet been apprehended by mainstream society.

 

Available at Amazon

 

Blessings in Disguise

An excerpt from ‘Quite Courage of the Inner Light’ by Philip Pegler 

Blessings in Disguise 

To adopt the courageous standpoint that adversity may turn out to be a blessing in disguise is an enlightened approach to one’s troubles, which is always likely to stand us in good stead.

This is radical optimism, to say the least – foolhardy perhaps, but not entirely misplaced. It is just a useful way to proceed with the assumption that the glass from which we must drink for sustenance is at least half full – and not perpetually half empty to confirm a dispirited frame of mind.

While that is hardly the smartest of analogies, it is at least homely and goes straight to the point. To emphasise the positive whenever possible does us the greatest of favours and need not be regarded as unrealistic.

It is true that to view a spell of severe misfortune as anything else but a hard blow of fate, does require a degree of fortitude that, although admirable, may be a step too far for most people.

Yet the willingness, notwithstanding adversity, to persist in the brave attempt to place unhappy events in a wider perspective soon brings its own reward. This can come quickly in a welcome release from bitterness and a sense of freedom from a nagging regret that things did not unfold as they should – and could have been altogether better, if only circumstances had been different from how they transpired.

Not all upsets or mistakes carry equal weight of course. Many accidents have trivial consequences, while others may be of cardinal significance, because of their far-reaching effects. In the same manner, some decisions reveal themselves to be crucial, vested with the apparent power to determine our very destiny. These choices we cannot help but regard as critical, because they seem to have been predestined somehow – simply by virtue of the way they have slotted so easily into our life-pattern.

Quiet Courage of the Inner Light

An excerpt from ‘Quiet Courage of the Inner Light’ by Philip Pegler
The world is evidently in crisis – and it is above all an existential crisis of perception. It constitutes a kind of entrenched misunderstanding, related to widespread confusion about human consciousness and identity, the true nature of which has not yet been apprehended by mainstream society.

 

Available at Amazon

 

By a New Way of Living

An excerpt from ‘Quite Courage of the Inner Light’ by Philip Pegler 

By a New Way of Living 

To proceed by a new and living way is to make a fresh resolve to live according to the principles of truth as we are now beginning to understand them.

This gradual appreciation of what we have been gleaning about spiritual life, needs to be thoroughly woven into the very fabric of our being, to transform over time, the way we respond to the daily challenges we face on all levels of our experience.

Authentic faith is neither blind nor idealistic, for it is linked indissolubly to a higher principle now activated in our consciousness. Meaningful change can only occur with the introduction of this higher element, which penetrates in its potency any uplifting ideas we have already received that stem from truth.

We will now need to try and live by the light of any such inspiring thoughts that have deeply struck us. Then we will have made these pointers truly our own and they will sustain us unfailingly as we traverse any rough terrain on the spiritual journey still to come.

Words that flow from Truth remind us of its beauty – and take us swiftly back to the source of wisdom within ourselves. It is only there in the conscious source of life where we find our true being, that our persistent doubts and painful regrets can ever find final resolution.

The past – by the very definition of that word – is always well and truly over by the time we recall it, but that of course does not mean that we have nothing left to learn in the present moment from what has gone before.

We have all made mistakes and have done or said things we bitterly regret, and those thoughts and actions have left traces in mind and body. Such residues have a powerful momentum and continue to influence our behaviour in sometimes incomprehensible ways. Our past behaviour patterns need to become more clearly apparent to us, if the process of healing is to properly commence.

Having absorbed spiritual instructions and taken them to heart, we can bring to bear upon the pains of the past this higher healing principle that comes from deep awareness of the inner laws that govern spiritual awakening. In this way, residues from past errors gradually dissolve and we are set free from our age-old burdens, as inner wounds begin to heal.

We may have passed through many rites of passage along the way and these hard times need to emerge from memory into the light of our conscious awareness, as we reflect deeply upon the complex factors that have shaped our past life.

The task of understanding and eliminating past physical and emotional trauma is an important stage of spiritual practice we should not evade – and need not fear. Nevertheless, it does need to be attended to with resolute courage and a quiet dignity – and the necessary strength to accomplish it will always be forthcoming if we trust that this will indeed be so.

Conflict resolution will enable us to untangle knots in relationships that have brought forth great pain, and although this can often be an arduous process, it is one that yields peace, together with the hope that this difficult work will prove possible for us – notwithstanding our prior misgiving.

Quiet Courage of the Inner Light

An excerpt from ‘Quiet Courage of the Inner Light’ by Philip Pegler
The world is evidently in crisis – and it is above all an existential crisis of perception. It constitutes a kind of entrenched misunderstanding, related to widespread confusion about human consciousness and identity, the true nature of which has not yet been apprehended by mainstream society.

 

Available at Amazon

 

 

The Razor’s Edge

When I see how my life has unfolded inevitably according to the circumstances of my family background, I cannot help but reflect upon the mysterious workings of destiny. I was born into a literary family and books and writing are in my blood, while the world of books was all about me as I grew up.

    Upon both sides of the family, I was surrounded by writers, publishers and booksellers. My grandfather on my mother’s side was pre-eminent as a publisher of many of the leading authors of his day and was also a children’s story-teller.

    Two of his sons followed in their father’s footsteps – and yet another son – my youngest uncle then living – became a bookseller. His young sister – my own mother – also opened her own successful bookshop and I have continued in the family tradition, working with my wife in the antiquarian book trade.

    In 1944, the year before the end of the Second World War – and three years before I was born – a book was published in England, which by curious coincidence was to have considerable bearing on my own life. Entitled ‘The Razor’s Edge’, it was an inspiring novel about a young man’s quest for spiritual illumination in India.

    The British author of this imaginative new work was William Somerset Maugham, one of the most popular and highly paid writers of his day. His publisher happened to be my grandfather, Charles Seddon Evans, the well-regarded Managing Director of William Heinemann, an independent London publishing house, then at the peak of its business fortunes.

    Like many of Maugham’s works of fiction, this book – one of the most admired and successful of his career – was thinly disguised autobiography. It was the outcome of a journey the author made to South India in October 1938 where he met one of the most outstanding spiritual masters of the twentieth century. This was Sri Ramana Maharshi, who is still revered the world over as a great sage in the Indian Vedic tradition.

    Maugham had a private audience with the Maharshi, who evidently made a deep impression on him. The meeting at the sage’s remote hermitage was a dramatic one. Maugham, possibly overcome by the tropical heat, fainted and Sri Ramana came to the room where he was staying and sat beside the Englishman until he recovered.

    The Maharshi hardly spoke a word on this occasion – as was his way, he ministered to the author in gracious silence and Maugham never forgot the encounter. He was prompted to write this most vivid and convincing fictional account of the sage, by putting himself in the shoes of his main character – and using him as a mouthpiece for his own actual experience.

    What is so remarkable as far as I am concerned is that just 30 years later, my brother and I found our way independently to the jungle ashram described by Maugham in his memorable novel – yet at the time we knew nothing of our tenuous family link with this great Indian spiritual teacher.

    Sri Ramana himself was no longer alive when we both arrived at Sri Ramanasramam, in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It was August 1969 and we had both travelled by train in the early morning from Madras – now known as Chennai.  Bhagavan, as he was known, had passed away nearly 20 years earlier in April 1950, but in most other respects his ashram at the foot of the sacred hill, Arunachala, remained almost unchanged and many of his direct disciples were still resident there.

    We were able to experience at first hand the extraordinary spiritual atmosphere, which had affected Maugham so deeply and which he had described so graphically for his countless readers in ‘The Razor’s Edge’.

    At the time I was not aware of the book. When I finally did open it years later, I was surprised to find what a clear grasp Somerset Maugham seemed to have of Ramana’s essential teaching, which had attracted me so powerfully too in its direct immediacy.

    ‘What he taught was very simple,’ wrote the much-travelled English author about Ramana Maharshi with the acute powers of observation that belonged to his writer’s trade.

    ‘He taught that we are all greater than we know and that wisdom is the means to freedom. He taught that it is not essential to salvation to retire from the world, but only to renounce the self. He taught that work done with no selfish interest purifies the mind and that duties are opportunities afforded to man to sink his separate self and become one with the universal self.

   ‘But it wasn’t his teaching, that was so remarkable – it was the man himself, his benignity, his greatness of soul, his saintliness. His presence was a benediction. I was very happy with him.’

    These are the words of the fictional character named Larry Darrell – a young pilot seeking peace and resolution to his anguished questioning about the meaning of life, following his harrowing service in the First World War.

    Yet Larry’s sober reflections ring true as greater than fiction and stand out from the narrative as particularly authentic. Clearly it is really Maugham speaking here from his own depths of conviction.

   For my part, I find it amazing to consider how this Indian sage, who moved my grandfather’s celebrated English author so profoundly, has also been the focus and mainstay of my own spiritual quest. I never met Maugham, but my mother knew him as a child. I also never had the chance of coming before the Maharshi of course, for he died when I was only a three-year-old back in England. Nevertheless, the greater part of my life has been infolded by his intangible influence for good.

    What more can I say? Everything in this world of manifestation is inter-related and I do not believe there is any such thing as coincidence. The origin of our individual lives and circumstances will always remain a mystery – but I am convinced that nothing happens without a reason.

Quiet Courage of the Inner Light

An excerpt from ‘Quiet Courage of the Inner Light’ by Philip Pegler
The world is evidently in crisis – and it is above all an existential crisis of perception. It constitutes a kind of entrenched misunderstanding, related to widespread confusion about human consciousness and identity, the true nature of which has not yet been apprehended by mainstream society.

 

Available at Amazon

 

A Strange Thing

It is a strange thing indeed, but we seem to learn best  – and more too – when the going is tough. How come?

Perhaps the answer lies in the simple act of letting go. When we simply can do no more, we are obliged to slacken our efforts – and in that very instance relief comes.

 

Why Ask for More?

Before we ask for more by way of spiritual instruction, let us take care to properly examine what has already been given.

What is here now – before I go searching for more guidance?

What is the nature of this body/mind mechanism? What is the nature of this conscious awareness that apparently inhabits us as the indwelling Life-force? In truth, who and what are we? Who and what am I?

Your existence – take note

It may sound like nothing much, but in actuality, knowing that we exist – feeling that we are alive – is quite sufficient. Everything is contained in that simple, unassuming recognition of the basic fact of being who we naturally are.

All of Reality – everything we could possibly need – is there for the asking.

But for this profound and fundamental truth to take effect, we do need to take note of it.

The ground of Being

United with the ground of being – at one with it.

Yes, we always have been, but have known it not.

Most of our sadness and suffering, have stemmed from this ignorance of our sacred origin.

It is a great pity – a crying shame one might say – but all is not lost when we simply recognise it has been so – and begin again.

 

The roof of heaven

Do not be deflected from your highest aim – do not be dissuaded from touching the roof of Heaven in your quiet times. Then make sure you make time and space to bring those blessings down to earth in tangible ways – allowing the invisible to become visible.

But it will always be your fundamental intention that determines the quality of any expression made manifest. It will then be your unique gift to a troubled world, always acutely in need of healing.

Following an authentic spiritual path is all about taking responsibility for our own discoveries – and not being  afraid to share them freely with others.

Abide as That

Conscious awareness emerges naturally from our own depths, and being natural to us, it is our very own – unmade and uncontrived. Abiding as That is simply to recollect and resume our true nature – and there is no effort involved, no need to strive any longer. What a great relief it is to be free from trying.

Facing the truth

We need to face up to the truth of our own situation – fairly and squarely, without fear or favour.

To admit honestly to our failings, is to begin the profound process of healing.

The Way of Freedom

The Way of Freedom

“Let us not ask that trouble may be removed from us, for until we have passed through suffering we shall continue to be troubled. One cannot overcome trouble by evading him, for he will meet us at another bend of the road, at a further crest of the hills, in yet another form. For trouble is not left behind; rather does he run before us and when in the natural course of things we catch up with him, we must walk with him that we may have converse together. Then we may become so familiar with him that we become resigned – and continue to walk with him.

There is another and wiser way. It is to look him in the eyes, however fearful his visage, and to take his hand, however rough, horny and misshapen. Perhaps you will see, not what you fear, but wisdom. Perhaps you will feel not repulsion, but strength. For in meeting trouble you meet also your wisdom and your strength. This is a mystery to those who have not met him face to face and embraced him, but a truth to those who have suffered trouble with a smile. Great is his treasure, but you will not know it until you have left him, waving your friendly farewell along the road. Then look in your wallet and your scrip, and see how secretly he has given you bread for the journey, and a book to read when you sit down to rest. And when night is come, look again, and lo, there is also a candle to lighten the darkness.

So there are three ways – the way of escape which is folly, the way of resignation which is ignorance, and the way of acceptance which moves along the road of life singing. And this is the way of freedom.”

Clare Cameron

The Silence of the Seed

The Silence of the Seed

The Silence of the Seed

When we first discover the treasure to be found in the life of the Spirit we want to tell others about it, especially when they are unhappy, sick or impoverished in some way. And so we lend them books, send them pamphlets, take them to some teacher who has helped us. In our ardour to share, it is a most natural impulse. Sometimes we may get little response from the troubled friend and wonder why.

Then we may say: ‘I expect they are not ready.’ The truth nearer the mark is that perhaps we are not ready.

There is a time to speak and a time to be silent, and a sign of our growth in discrimination is that as we learn more of the deeper truth revealed to us from within, we tend to become more silent. Our experiences – delicate, subtle and profound as they often are – can only be discussed with those who are also passing that way, or have already done so in their own increasing maturity and knowledge of God. By some intangible intuition, we not only know with whom to share but often cannot help doing so. Some spark kindles a spark in the other, so that there is illumined communion. Few words are necessary. The other knows of what we speak. We also know what he is feeling. This is the blending of souls in the service of God, and as in all true communion, we are re-inspired and refreshed. Such souls come together in Someone or Something far greater than either of them, and they know it – and it is as awesome as it is a beautiful experience which invokes our worship. It can only take place when both souls are serving the Kingdom of God first, and it cannot be commanded. It is a gift of Grace and can happen between complete strangers.

At other times, when there is not this bond of spiritual kinship where two seem to dissolve into one in the One, often we long to help someone struggling in a morass of difficulty – and do not know what to say or do. How to find the invisible link then?

We can always and immediately pray. While listening or reading that letter, we can let the love of the compassionate Christ flow towards that soul. We can ask for guidance. Sometimes in the very act of listening, we do not so much hear the actual words as sense what may be the real trouble, unconfessed. That Divine love, for which we are the willing channel, reaches the dark, fearful corners of some heart and brings balm. It is the Comforter. When the friend leaves us, he or she may say how much better they feel – yet we have scarcely said a word. We have just listened. But something has happened through us, aware as we are of having so little wisdom of our own, and knowing that mere human sympathy is not enough, helpful and necessary though it is…

Boundless are the horizons upon all that we have to discover and to share. In the secret places of silence we grow straight and true and will help others to grow straight and true also. For when we serve God’s purpose, He will help us lead others to find their own true purpose, which is Divine. However ardent our desires may be, for ourselves or others, this is the direct, the safe, the most beautiful and rewarding way.