Hints and Guesses

Anyone embarking on a spiritual sojourn might ask themselves what the most productive attitude might be, setting out, to get in a groove, set the mood, catch a wave, go with the flow, or align with the stars. We usually prepare in some way because we expect these types of journeys to bear fruit. Upon our return, we hope to have made progress or achieved success. The goal, after all, is to feel more at home in our own skin, more in sync with our surroundings, more at ease with our fellow humans, and more in line with the invisible life force of the universe.

Secondly, we can anticipate challenges. To be at ease with ourselves, we may need to forgive and forget certain things. Being in sync with our surroundings can be challenging if they present obstacles or bad luck. To feel an easy camaraderie with fellow humans, we must accept that not all of them are nice or wise. To align ourselves with the invisible life force of the universe, we must first believe it exists, then put our spiritual senses on alert to feel the direction of creative power.

Particularly insightful clues can be found in the writings of saints gone before us. By saints, I mean individuals who devoted significant time to the search for meaning and possessed talents for creative expression. We can glean plenty, for example, from T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets, as I have discussed previously. Quoted in that same post are the following lines:

For most of us, there is only the unattended

Moment, the moment in and out of time,

The distraction fit, lost in a shaft of sunlight,

The wild thyme unseen, or the winter lightning

Or the waterfall, or music heard so deeply

That it is not heard at all, but you are the music

While the music lasts.

…

These are only hints and guesses,

Hints followed by guesses, and the rest

Is prayer, observance, discipline, thought, and action.

For people who like to ponder the meaning of life, poets and novelists can help us learn to interpret our experiences. If the intent of the artist was merely to provide mindless entertainment, and we take it that way, some works are spiritually vacuous. However, some writers share their spiritual journeys and invite us to participate. I particularly take to heart his statement elsewhere in Four Quartets that old men ought to be explorers. Eliot does not claim certainty but admits that he follows hints and guesses.

The Creator’s existence, for example, is not made undeniably evident. According to ancient scriptures, tapping into the life force is a matter of faith. We must live by trusting and following the hints and guesses granted to us. We can also consider those given to others.

Eliot suggests that making sense of our intuitions is best achieved by “prayer, observance, discipline, thought, and action.” I offer interpretations of these below, as I believe anyone may who reads poetry or encounters artworks—not by trying to figure out what the original artist meant, so much, but by sensing the art’s impact on us in the present.

I like the definition of prayer suggested by Theophan the Recluse, a 17^th-century Russian monk, who said something like:

With prayer, the principal thing is to stand before God with the mind in the heart and maintain that posture in your daily life, whatever you attend to.

So, prayer does not require us to sit down and close our eyes. It does not require us to say anything. This is a mindfulness that assumes the Creator cares about us and wants us to care about each other. As every atom is part of the Creator, we are known and merely need to pay attention. (The whole is more than the sum of the parts!)

For observance, people often think of the dictionary definition: “actions or practices that accompany a ritual or religious holiday.” But I suggest the more general definition works better here: “the act of observation, seeing, noticing.” Curiosity and awareness are crucial characteristics of spiritual travelers.

We often think of discipline as a set of rules forced upon us by parents who make us do things we do not want to do, which they claim are good for us. In Eliot’s list, I prefer to think of it as entirely self-imposed. Before we were old enough to fully think for ourselves, our parents tried to anticipate what would be good for us. As adults, we continue the task. No longer forced, we accept in principle that some unpleasant actions now will lead to good outcomes and desired futures. This requires both trust and diligence.

Self-discipline is ongoing in life. We are all less than perfect, both physically and mentally. However, most of us have not given up on the pursuit of improvement. Some are better than others at staying positive and celebrating small steps. They recognize that taking habitual small positive actions can yield good results in a surprisingly short period of time.

Next in Eliot’s list is thought. Don’t we all think continuously? He means the kind of thought that belongs in this list: directed attention to what matters in life. In the daily cycle we sleep, eat, work, interact with others, play, and plan what to do next. We can engage in walking prayers. We can also consider ways to make a positive impact. This isn’t always obvious. If we try to think from the Creator’s perspective, we may discover that small actions, even easily accomplished ones, affirm life.

We must think for ourselves and be careful not to accept uncritically what others suggest. Each of us has a unique relationship with the Creator. Christians should always do a double-check: do the ideas my church advocates or the suggestions of a trusted friend match what Jesus said? Does it jibe with my spiritual experience?

The word action follows. We do many things without thinking much; they are relatively routine. However, thoughts that align with the Creator lead to positive actions. These don’t need to be enormously impactful (nor are they always successful). We leave long-term planning and outcomes to the Creator. We trust that even small actions push things in the right direction.

Everyone knows that actions reveal the truth more than words. The actions of a two-faced person show that what they say is disingenuous. Such people lie so routinely that the behavior may have become subconscious. To align with the creative life force, we must ensure that our actions match our stated beliefs.

And we must take action. Yet, knowing what to do as part of our spiritual journey is a very personal matter. Perhaps, each word in Eliot’s list is something of a prerequisite to the next. Here’s the list again:

prayer, observance, discipline, thought, and action

• To be an effective observer, pray first or have a prayerful attitude.
• To hone your self-discipline, observe its benefits.
• To think well, seek ways to discipline yourself spiritually.
•  To take the best actions, think about how they align with the creative life force.

While this Creator’s existence is uncertain, neither can anyone be sure of nothingness. Atheists would like us to believe that finding no evidence should lead to rejection. Their problem may stem from assuming that the Creator would provide conclusive evidence, rather than interact in ways that require intuition, creativity, and trust.

That is why I have suggested the metaphor of a creative life force. I don’t mean a scientific physical force, but a supernatural way of sensing. Similarly to a compass aligning with the Earth’s magnetic field, humans may have an innate ability to sense the Creator. We may each vary widely in our capacity to sense an intrinsic harmony of existence. However, we can also be thrown off by our wonderfully fertile imaginations. This harmony is not simply a fairy-tale, heavenly fantasy where everything is joyful and nothing is amiss in the world. The creative life force works against death, but does not prevent it.

Eliot’s list is a spiritual strategy pointing us in the right direction.