Week of May 6, 2002
Michael S.

But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut the door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which is in secret shall reward thee openly.
     Matthew 6:6

Not long ago, I was asked how I came to my spiritual awakening and center to my life. At first, I was startled by the question because I did not how to answer it. I have taken some time to consider it carefully and I still don't have a sense of exactly when my faith became important in my life. All I know is that it is there.

I have had a very broad set of religious and cultural exposures. In addition, I was raised in two different cultures and languages simultaneously -- European Russian and American. All of these experiences molded my faith.

I have always been a person that kept a great deal to myself and held tightly within me. I had learned to internalize things that impressed and stressed me. I took inside of me all of many the diverse religious, cultural and other experiences I had directly through observation and indirectly through study or readings. I realize now that I was able to integrate all of these experiences into my being and had developed a strong personal faith that supported and stabilized me as I went through dramatic powerful crises in my life. I still do not know when it came about. I am not concerned with when or how, I just know that it is there and that it sustains me and I am grateful.

All of this resonated strongly in me the first time I read the Scripture lesson in Matthew 6 about praying quietly in the privacy of my home, my head or my heart. It had come about that I no longer wondered because I knew. I no longer had to question my faith because it is always there inside me. I have survived crises and enjoyed happy times because I had been given strength and peace through my faith.

I marvel at each new realization of where I am and who I am and who everyone else is with whom I come in contact. I greatly treasure the Quaker principle that each of us has that bright spark of the divine within us that shines forth on everyone I meet and theirs illuminates me. And, I am mindful of the responsibility each of us has to "mind the light".

"Let your light so shine before others that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." Amen
(LBW: Holy Baptism, 16)