In Genesis we are taught that humans were created in the image of God. Walter Hilton (“The Ladder of Perfection” Book Two) describes something of the process. It is our soul that is image of God, not our physical body. As we celebrate the anticipation of the coming of Jesus who became the “pioneer of our faith” as the writer of Hebrews puts it, how do we go about reflecting the image of God in our lives?
There are three ways, but the third is impossible in this life–the perfect reflection of God. But first there is faith. You have to recognize and acknowledge Jesus as the leader who shows the way. This is just the first step–a crucial one, but just a step after all.
Second is what Hilton calls feeling. I’m not sure what I’d call it in 21st Century English rather than his 14th Century words. But he explains that this experience lies in overcoming the selfish and sinful desires of our “flesh” and coming to live in the spiritual realm that Jesus showed–and were taught by the early leaders and handed down even to this day. This same spiritual life existed before Jesus–it’s just that humans never constructed a way for everyone to have the opportunity to participate in the life of the spirit. Even for Hilton, who wrote to contemplatives who usually gathered into communities apart from society at large.
We teach today that anyone can and should seek to achieve the spiritual life that Jesus called us to live. As we live in Advent and then celebrate the birth, we need now, no less than during Lent, to seek the life that allows us to reflect the glory of God. Even if that reflection is a little imperfect. Put aside those desires especially fanned into emotional flame by intense marketing this month and seek to reflect God’s image of true life in the Spirit.
Tags: Christianity, Spirituality
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