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Wisdom Quote
A real pilgrim going to Jerusalem leaves his house and land, wife and children; he divests himself of all that he possesses in order to travel light and without encumbrances. Similarly, if you wish to be a spiritual pilgrim, you must divest yourself of all that you possess; that is, both of good deeds and bad, and leave them all behind you. Recognize your own poverty, so that you will not place any confidence in your own work; instead, always be desiring the grace of deeper love, and seeking the spiritual presence of Jesus. If you do this, you will be setting your heart wholly on reaching Jerusalem, and on nothing else.
*Walter Hilton (1340-1396), English Mystic. In Ursula King. Christian Mystics.
Comments
Walter Hilton taught mysticism that entailed reform of both faith and feelings. "Jerusalem" became for him union with God in Love. This union transforms intellect and heart.
We are to be spiritual pilgrims. This includes detachment from all things. This detachment is not rejection of good things; we do not disregard or dishonor good things. Rather, the detachment is a disowning in that one does not attach emotionally the self to anything, thus drawing such to oneself in itself and apart from God. All things are received as a gift, and no sense of personal ownership is given to anything.
This detachment allows us to experience things differently. We could say that all things are spiritualized for us, or they are seen in God, not apart from God. Indeed, they are seen with us ~ and all creatures ~ in God. They are spiritually seen for what they truly are ~ in God, manifesting the Word.
I do not forfeit the pleasure of enjoyment of good things in this spiritual detachment. Rather, enjoyment of the good is enhanced by placing it rightfully as a gift passing through me, rather than a good to be owned by me. The reference point for all, then, becomes God, not my own need or enjoyment of them.
Hilton, rightly, surprises us by affirming that we are to divest ourselves of "good deeds" and "bad" ones. Nothing, not even the doing of good in the name of Christ, is to remain between Christ and me. To give my heart to the good I have done is as much an attachment of the self as giving my heart to the bad done by me.
Spiritual contemplation leads to experience of the Living Word that enables us to see, as never before, the good that stands between us and God. Before immersion in the Depths of Love, we more easily noticed apparently bad thoughts and acts that would break fellowship with Christ. In the Depths of Love, we see the prideful ownership of good.
To divest ourselves of both the good and bad, we experience our own poverty before God. We offer nothing to God but ourselves, a self empty of all else.
We offer, also, ardent desire for what Hilton terms "grace of deeper love." This desire is for communion with the "spiritual presence of Jesus."
Through resurrection Jesus became the Word infusing the cosmos. Now, this infusion is through the fusion of the prior Word and its incarnation in Jesus of Nazareth. This integration, through resurrection, is the spiritual presence of Jesus. We no longer relate to Jesus as only preexisting Word or the man Jesus. The spiritual presence of Jesus is perfection of God and man in the transformation of matter into Pure Spirit.
This divinization of Jesus Christ sets forth the path for every Christian. The destiny of every follower of Christ is to become wholly a christ, wholly in Christ, fully like Jesus Christ ~ in the Father, through the Holy Spirit.
This wholly in and like Christ Jesus is the spiritual Jerusalem that inspires Christian pilgrims onward, a God-pull-ing toward the divine destiny implanted in us by our Creator. We shall be all of Love in Love.
Suggested Reflection
In your own words describe the "grace of deeper love"?
What to you is the "spiritual presence of Jesus"?
What attachment to good might you need to give up to be more wholly available to Christ?
Have you had an experience of encountering your poverty before God? What was that like for you?
Brian is available to respond to requests pertaining to seeking a Spiritual Director, his speaking, doing classes, workshops, or retreats for churches or other spiritual groups.
For submission of replies, see below:
*Brian K. Wilcox lives with his wife, Rocio, and their two dogs, St. Francis and Bandit Ty, in Punta Gorda, Florida. He is a United Methodist pastor and vowed member of Greenbough House of Prayer, a contemplative Christian community in Georgia. His passion is living a contemplative life and inspiring others to experience a deeper relationship with Christ through contemplative prayer and living.
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