Believing in something, particularly a spiritual truth, is one thing. The spiritual path only begins there. We eventually need to walk the walk and live what we believe. This means what we think, say, and do all echo what we believe. It’s not about convincing others through words of fear or force. It’s about living in truth, even if it’s inconvenient or unpopular. We must experience and live it with all of our being.

Experience scripture through Lectio Divina, which is a meditative practice rooted deep within Christian history. See if scripture speaks to you in a new way as you listen with a contemplative approach. I recorded this during my live session on the Insight Timer app, so if I sound like I’m talking to someone, I’m responding to some of the chat through the session.

Self-help media tell us to pay attention to our senses and get out of thinking. The Stoics tell us to be a little more rational with our thinking. It’s actually a little bit of both. We train our senses to give us useful information so we can make wise decisions on our life path. Eventually, we move beyond the rational mind and discover something greater—wisdom.

We all have a calling. We might not know what it is—I still don’t. But God does. Today is the feast day of St. John Henry Newman, who reminds us to trust that God has a purpose for us. “God knows what He is about.”

Our impulses are moments of mindlessness. They reveal our weaknesses and inner drives. Impulses are different from instincts, which concern our ability to survive. Impulses are based on emotions and patterns of conditioning. It’s critical for us to examine our impulses and pause before acting on them.

Prayer and meditation, over time, dissolves our sense of separation. Neuroscientists such as Andrew Newberg have studied what happens to the brain when people pray or meditate. Even when you are physically alone, you never feel lonely. Your mind can be trained to feel a sense of unity and connection even when no one seems near.

We often get too comfortable in life, and when we encounter a troubling situation, our lives are thrown into chaos. St. Basil reminds us that we’re just travelers on this journey. We must accept both comforting and challenging situations. The challenging situations help us grow and keep us humble, and the comforts ensure us that God is good.

We are advised to "believe our feeling" and stop thinking in a great deal of New Age rituals. We are encouraged to "sue our desires" even in self-help programs. Not so quickly, the Cloud of Unknowing warns. It's obvious that a lot of individuals today are chasing the illusive in addition to being insane. According to the author of The Cloud of Unknowing, the ability of reason is particularly crucial since without it, we are unable to determine what is good or harmful. Without Reason, we feel justified in our discomfort or displeasure toward someone and take inappropriate action.

So many people find comfort in a religious house, particularly if it’s the religious house from their youth. Yet somewhere along their lives, that religious house locked its doors to them. Whether it was abuse or archaic rules, that house no longer beckoned them. Yet God beckoned them to return to him, and the doors to the house remained locked. God always welcomes the lost. Why do certain religious houses keep them out?

Why do we need to belong? Popular media and figures often talk about establishing our identity, but this tempts us to conform. It emphasizes division rather than unity. Look within yourself and ask why you need to belong. Perhaps those differences are more similar to those people who don’t belong to your group. Rather than conform to a group, cultivate virtues such as compassion and integrity. Then you might find that you belong everywhere. BTW, my mind is cloudier than usual this morning.