Fourth Sunday of Lent
Intent: Spiritual Refreshment
Refreshment is the giving of fresh strength, whether physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual. We often think of refreshment in physical terms, for example sleeping at night when we become tired, or stopping to rest when we become weary. We are refreshed when we quench our thirst, when we eat, and, most critically, in every moment we inhale. Conversely we are refreshed not only by rest but also by exercise and activity.
Consider refreshment in mental terms. Have you ever felt weary from your thoughts, even when you had physical strength? Like the body, the mind needs refreshment. What about emotional refreshment? When we are sad, fearful, bored, angry, and even in the most serious predicaments, we may experience moments of emotional refreshment.
So what is spiritual refreshment? Some might think of spiritual refreshment as the experience of being uplifted from a spiritual practice, such as prayer, contemplation, or ritual. The sacraments, and in particular the bread and wine of the Holy Eucharist, may be regarded as a symbol of spiritual refreshment. One might also find spiritual refreshment from experiencing an epiphany, or even from the fellowship of group worship.
While we may tend to think of spiritual refreshment in terms of the spiritual practices and experiences that renew and inspire us, let us also consider spiritual refreshment more specifically from the Gnostic perspective. To define spiritual refreshment, we must first define spiritual thirst. What is the condition from which man needs to be refreshed? For the Gnostic, the cause of spiritual suffering is man’s condition of being in a "fallen" state, existing “in this world, but not of it.” For the Gnostic, if spiritual suffering is the soul’s experience of being trapped in this alien world, then spiritual refreshment must mean the soul’s return to its Divine home. Just as one is refreshed after the labors of the day by sleeping at night, the soul will eventually rest and will become refreshed after a lifetime of toil and suffering.
As the Gnostic scriptures depict the soul passing through many worlds and aeons in its return home, spiritual refreshment reminds us that, just as we may rest in bed at the end of a long day and become refreshed, so shall we rest after each lifetime and become strengthened in the upward march of the soul's perfection.
Consider refreshment in mental terms. Have you ever felt weary from your thoughts, even when you had physical strength? Like the body, the mind needs refreshment. What about emotional refreshment? When we are sad, fearful, bored, angry, and even in the most serious predicaments, we may experience moments of emotional refreshment.
So what is spiritual refreshment? Some might think of spiritual refreshment as the experience of being uplifted from a spiritual practice, such as prayer, contemplation, or ritual. The sacraments, and in particular the bread and wine of the Holy Eucharist, may be regarded as a symbol of spiritual refreshment. One might also find spiritual refreshment from experiencing an epiphany, or even from the fellowship of group worship.
While we may tend to think of spiritual refreshment in terms of the spiritual practices and experiences that renew and inspire us, let us also consider spiritual refreshment more specifically from the Gnostic perspective. To define spiritual refreshment, we must first define spiritual thirst. What is the condition from which man needs to be refreshed? For the Gnostic, the cause of spiritual suffering is man’s condition of being in a "fallen" state, existing “in this world, but not of it.” For the Gnostic, if spiritual suffering is the soul’s experience of being trapped in this alien world, then spiritual refreshment must mean the soul’s return to its Divine home. Just as one is refreshed after the labors of the day by sleeping at night, the soul will eventually rest and will become refreshed after a lifetime of toil and suffering.
As the Gnostic scriptures depict the soul passing through many worlds and aeons in its return home, spiritual refreshment reminds us that, just as we may rest in bed at the end of a long day and become refreshed, so shall we rest after each lifetime and become strengthened in the upward march of the soul's perfection.