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Plugging On

I suppose a very high percentage of time any of us spend “being spiritual,” whatever that is, is pretty routine.  Of course, it is the mountain top experience that is so appealing.  Reading the mystics of any age is both thrilling for me and also daunting.  It is fun to relish vicariously in their experience.  But when it comes to my experience, I have not been up the mountain yet!

If I am honest, most of my spiritual experience is best described as “plugging on.”  That does not make it bad.  It does not mean that I think God has shortchanged me.  I am good with what is given me and what my own discipline leads me to experience.  I know it is very important for myself not to get into the comparative shopping mode where my spirituality is concerned. 

I am convinced no denomination has an edge on any other denomination.  Spirituality is not denominational.  Spirituality is about the lived experience with the Holy Spirit---my lived experience and your lived experience.  I can only have mine.  I cannot have Meister Eckhart’s medieval mystical experience.  I cannot have your experience---mystical or not.  I can only have my own.

Left to my own means, I can only plug on.  Maybe that is only another way of talking about discipline.  Perhaps plugging on has a negative connotation for some people.  It does not have negative vibes for me.  In fact, it is a rather positive way for me to look at the picture.  Plugging on means I am engaged.  That is an important knowing for me.

Plugging on is my way of talking about my engagement with the Spirit.  Plugging on means I did it today (or at least, I tried to do it today) and I will do it again tomorrow.  So what is “it” that I did today?  There is a range of things that fit this “it” category.  I think of things like prayer, meditation, spending some time in wondering and pondering. 

Plugging on means being kind when I might be slightly on the grumpy side.  It means a smile when the corners of my lips do not have an upward bent  this particular day.  Plugging on means I tried, even if nothing seem to connect with the Spirit this day.  Plugging on means I stay in courage, even if momentarily discouragement seems more appropriate.

Plugging on is one of the strongest signs of hope I experience.  It is more hope than guarantee.  Plugging on means I do my part to engage and connect with the Spirit.  It is all I can do.  Grace is a gift; I cannot command a gift.  But I can plug on.  That I can do today and I can also do it tomorrow.  I do it in the hope that I will engage and be engaged with God’s Presence.

Plugging on has a daily quality to it that cannot be faked.  Plugging on can only be rooted in my authenticity.  I might occasionally put on a happy face or create a façade for God.  But I cannot do this every day.  I can be authentic every day---even when I am plugging on.  But I cannot be a fake every day

I think a key quality of plugging on is our ability to say, “I did my best this day.”  Often our best is nothing more than we made the effort.  At least, that is where I seem to be.  Maybe the spiritual giants can do better.  I am sure they have experiences of God that I don’t.  But I remind myself that spirituality is not a comparative game where there are winners and losers!

Today I can plug on and I can do it again tomorrow.  I do it because it really is worth it.  And I do it because I can’t do it any other way.  So I will plug on.

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