Spiritual Inspiration
I find that my inspiration for trying to live spiritually comes from the examples set by individuals I know well, and whose ways of living I admire. Each of them seems to have found an inner ‘peace of mind’ which shows itself in their love and care for those around them. They have an inner strength which derives from having searched for and found a spiritual dimension for their lives.
We would all benefit from coming to recognise that we are spiritual beings and need an inner purpose to our lives. We are created to be unique, and will find our inspiration in many different ways.
Some people may find their inspiration in the lives of great spiritual leaders such as Jesus, Mohammed, Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela or Mother Theresa. Their lives of unselfish devotion to the well-being of others are well documented.
We can also turn to books such as the Bible, the Gita or the Koran - or other religious writings which have inspired the main religions of the world. And there are many other spiritual books such as ‘A Course in Miracles’ or the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg which can give inspiring new insights into the subject.
Each of us is a part of the natural world into which we have been created by God. We can be inspired by its beauty and variety, and the way in which everything follows the laws of its creation. For example, day and night; spring, summer, autumn and winter; the growth of plants from seed to fruit; birth and death.
By experiencing the wonders of the world about us and meditating upon them, we can feel our own place within this creation.
And there is an inter-dependence or correspondence between all the elements of the natural world and those of the spiritual world.
“We can see from this, as though in a mirror, how perfection stems from variety in heaven as well, since things that happen in the natural world offer us a reflection of things in the spiritual world” writes Emanuel Swedenborg in ‘Heaven and Hell’.
We can also draw our inspiration from the arts, such as music, painting, sculpture, theatre and dance and from the sciences which increasingly reveal both the immensity of the universe and the incredible nature of sub-atomic particles.
Through all these things we can experience deep spiritual feelings which can make us aware that there is far more to life than just the purely physical, and from these feelings we can be inspired to greater spirituality.
