Core Passages
1. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
When you go into your inner room to pray in secret, does not your affiliation with every institution drop away for that moment? Your Father, who is in secret, sees in secret through a pure and unaffiliated lense.
2. Come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Independent practice, resting in the paradox between will and abandonment, centered on no more than the sacrament of the present moment, demands very little from you.
3. And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed upon the ground, and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he knows not how. The earth produces of itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
This parable of Jesus is central in understanding the tension in residing between will and abandonment. The seed grows by itself and the man doesn't know how it happens. He scatters the seed and harvests when the grain is ripe, but God causes the growth.
4. Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Lo, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”
Your happiness, salvation, your enlightenment are not dependent on external factors or masters.
5. the kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you.
When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known,
and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living Father.
It is unnecessary to depend too heavily on outside help from any direction. Rather, seek to draw strength directly from the creator who resides completely in your heart.
6. In reality, holiness consists of one thing only: complete loyalty to God's will.
You are seeking for secret ways of belonging to God, but there is only one: making use of whatever he offers you.
For one who is truly abandoned, every moment brings an ever flowing source of holiness. Even the most disagreeable events contain a reflection of God's will.
Abandonment to Divine Providence
Jean-Pierre de Caussade
7. ...when God created the world He commanded each tree to bear fruit after its kind; and even so he bids Christians - the living trees of His Church - to bring forth fruits of devotion, each one according to his time and vocation. A different exercise of devotion is required of each - the noble, the artisan, the servant, the prince, the maiden and the wife; and furthermore such practice must be modified according to the strength, the calling, and the duties of each individual.
It is necessary to devise your own spiritual practice as you are pursuing spiritual development while living a normal life in the world. Your strength, calling, and duties are unique to you and so will be your spiritual practice.
Introduction to the Devout Life
St. Francis de Sales