We are kept from the experience of Spirit because our inner world is cluttered with past traumas . . . As we begin to clear away this clutter, the energy of divine light and love begins to flow through our being.
Thomas KeatingRead
Only when we can accept God as he is can we give up the desire for spiritual experiences that we can feel.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True acceptance of God leads to a release from the longing for tangible spiritual experiences.
This quote by Thomas Keating emphasizes that genuine acceptance of God involves surrendering the need for experiential spirituality. Instead of seeking emotional or sensory confirmations of faith, we are called to embrace the divine as it is, fostering a deeper, more authentic relationship with the divine beyond mere feelings or experiences.
Themes
AcceptanceSpiritualityGodFaithExperience
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared in a spiritual retreat to encourage deeper discussions about faith.
More from Thomas Keating
All quotes βThe acceptance of all that God has given us and the willingness to let it go - to give it back to him at a moment's notice - that's true human freedom.
Thomas KeatingRead
We rarely think of the air we breathe, yet it is in us and around us all the time. In similar fashion, the presence of God penetrates us, is all around us, is always embracing us.
Thomas KeatingRead
For human beings, the most daunting challenge is to become fully human. For to become fully human is to become fully divine.
Thomas KeatingRead
To become who we are as creatures made in the image and likeness of God, we have to be nothing and everything at once, since this is what God is. ... If we accept who we are, we are manifesting God and radiating Christ. The latter unfolding of the divine life within us does not need to go anywhere _x000D_ or do anything special.
Thomas KeatingRead
If you accept the belief that baptism incorporates us in the mystical body of Christ, into the divine DNA, then you might say that the Holy Spirit is present in each of us, and thus we have the capacity for the fullness of redemption, of transformation.
Thomas KeatingRead
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