THERE IS IN THE SOUL a something in which God dwells, and there is in the soul a something in which the soul dwells in God.

Meister Eckhart

HMM … WHAT QUAKER MYSTIC George Fox called the “inner light”.  Mystery. That which – or Who – shows us the way forward – in a nudging-as-opposed-to-a-certain sort of a way. But this appears to be an elusive light for humankind. Unsurprising, then, that the way forward is not very clear. And I (and you) need time and some quiet space in life before even beginning to grasp what Meister Eckhart is saying here. So I find myself asking – a dozen times a day – whether the noise and the demands of contemporary religious experience – whatever the religious tradition – are too many and too great?

If we want to maintain religious traditions for their sake alone then we could probably do with a bit more noise and busyness – for that kind of maintenance work will always be demanding, voraciously time-consuming, and costly. But if we would know God, if we are intent on finding a way forward that comes to us by means of “inner light”, if it’s true that there’s something in the soul in which God dwells, and something in the soul in which the soul dwells in God, then it seems to me an obvious thing that we must “hush the noise” before this Mystery, quieten the strident voices of our most vigourous “certainties”, and “hear the angels sing”. Probably, for most of us,  sooner rather than later …