Whilst looking at the historical record of humanity you may find many spiritual revivals... bursting forth like herds of deer from quiet leafy woodlands. Photo: Photo: Shaun Dunphy / flickr CC.
Spiritual revival
Martin David writes on receiving revival through the looking glass
Whilst looking at the historical record of humanity you may find many spiritual revivals, examples of which seem to spring up unexpectedly at various places and times – bursting forth like herds of deer from quiet leafy woodlands.
The mid-seventeenth century was such a time and was marked with a special intensity rarely found on these shores. If you find this to be so then I expect you’ve thought about the next one – and there will be a next one if history is a guide, even if, rationally, we say it doesn’t repeat but rhymes like the cycles and seasons of nature.
If some feel we are in a steadily uplifting environment this doesn’t preclude such revivals from occurring and if, on the other hand, some feel we are in a declining environment the concept is most appealing. The divergence between these only makes it more likely, since confrontation with ourselves seems to be what gives them birth.
I heartily agree with anyone who says what we do now is most important – rather than anticipating some future time. The other side of that coin is the risk of not recognising the signs that a time of spiritual revival is imminent. I think there are signs that this is the case, but, whatever they may be, I believe that whatever you see is from your own inward light.
One reasonable stance is to consciously exist on that exciting edge where spiritual revival is so scarcely distant that we can almost say we are already in one – because the definition is hazy at the very beginning. I feel this is a rather good philosophy to have since it anticipates reception of it, rather than predicts or tries to make it happen.
But, whatever happens, with an expectant attitude we are more likely to have a fully immersive experience each and every day.
