It occurred to me most recent, having octogenarian credentials, as well having outlived my worst critics, that I have a responsibility to open my heart beyond writing poetry, an obligation to add voice to our community, given we share common values on Sundays, so I’m going to have a Quaker moment, attempting to translate spirituality into helpful words.

No less than now, my wife years past, accused me of “thinking in too much”, a self-communication –but I explain it as a constant aspect of a creative mind. You’re there, but yourself is somewhere else.  You can’t help it –a self-interested creature whipped by a greater Muse.   

That’s why I feel comfortable and grounded with a silent service, a house cleaning of the mind, a moral polestar, a balance between the hardship of reality also an unabated healing aspect of the soul when forced to search for answers.  

My spiritual guide considers David’s biblical Psalm: (46-10) “Be still and know that I am the voice of God.”  I hope to consider today the personal value of spiritual thought…a feeling without words.

My religious values are reached through meditation, and as any Quaker would suggest hoping to see the light without illusion, blinders, or dampened by ego. 

Before I tapped into Quaker thought at Seattle Friends in 1962 –over 60-years past- was more than satisfied with a stoic position as to organized religion, though trying to understand that with all the gods available and claimed through history, how war and petulance, greed and deception is a part of life, also led to a career as a critic of social discourse, as well spiritual guides considering a long search for peace-of-mind.

How we manifest our religious beliefs is a clear example of seeking a moral structure that satisfies something within, do I dare suggest justifies our conduct, as you wrestle with present realities. For me the Ten Commandments proved ethical, a tremendous social lesson.

There are many approaches to spirituality. Consider this: spirituality is a feeling: can’t cup it in your hand, or tightly grasp it in a fist… only feel. Can’t hug it, but sense it clearly exists in mind and body. You can’t touch it, only sense it. I consider it as a presence, a manifestation of a guiding spirit in search of clarity, guidance and discovery. It’s the motor -I mean energy- that will keep us grounded.

Clearly not a theory, or a haunting specter, but an intimate understanding –a private acceptance of faith where feelings are fortified by moral judgement.

The only way to achieve this insight is through quiet contemplation, and for reinforcement social interaction with the Society of Friends.  Consider these beneficial and positive thoughts, an understanding. I suggest this comes through meditation, equally it’s prudent to understand the way we act defines the presence of a willing spirit. 

For me “silent service” is therapy, private and personal questions answered, a grounding that has led me through many complex social issues.  Please understand we are part of compound societies, a sometimes-confusing interactive process; and I hope for satisfaction to honor convictions being motivated by seemingly thoughtful inherent judgements.

I started reading the monk, Thomas Merton, decades past, to seek a spiritual message. Went through two of his books, found much of the thinking defined me, a path offered as reference, to seek a better, and clear, creative and moral path.

In this light I truly can’t fully communicate to you spiritual healing, but believe it’s in you, waiting for discovery, if not already achieved. Spirituality has no voice but offers an elated focus. I do understand the hours spent downstairs honoring a practice –I’ve observed for decades– hopefully helps me continue to absorb positive sensations, and let me add…and fully appreciate the good in you for honoring this tradition.   

In a moment of whimsy allow me to offer another form of therapeutic discovery, a lifting if you will. When issues of life get ya’ down, watch Walker Texas Ranger on TV for a gymnastic and vicarious exercise; or better recall the words of Vanna White, a media pundit, who wisely observed “When you spin the wheel you never know what you’ll get!”

This message was given to Spokane Friends by Walter Simon during Sunday morning worship on October 1, 2023.