Kelsey: Reaching Out of Ourselves
“A Christian meditative practice that does not result in horizontal outreach to suffering and lost human beings has gone astray.”—Morton Kelsey in Companions of the Inner Way, The Art of Spiritual Guidance (Crossroad 1983) p. 27.
Langley in Nicaragua
Morton Kelsey was a teacher, counselor, Episcopal priest, former teacher at Notre Dame, and author of over 30 books on spiritual development.
He writes about the tension between the peace we find in our relationship to God and the lack of peace in our outer world. This is similar to the writings of Gordon Cosby from Church of the Saviour. Cosby called it the real and unreal world. In fact, the Church of the Saviour’s website is Inward Outward.
Just as we find inner peace when we are touched by love, the same is true for the birthing of our outer peace. The love we find in staying connected to the God of our understanding calls us out of ourselves to those suffering in the world. The paradox is that in reaching out to those in need, we again find God, for that is where the God of love promises to be most present.
Spiritual friends or guides who have encountered the creative love of Christ within themselves and in others can be guides to spiritual practices that help put us in a position to experience this love.
Often spiritual guides help point out where God was working in our life, where we experienced God’s love and protection, but were not aware of it. Spiritual friends help us find the Christ already within us, which constantly calls us to find the Christ in our neighbor, especially our neighbor in need.
Joanna joannaseibert.com