The inner self is as secret as God and, like God, it evades every concept that tries to seize hold of it with full possession. It is a life that cannot be held and studied as object, because it is not "a thing". It is not reached and coaxed forth from hiding by any process under the sun, including meditation. All that we can do with any spiritual discipline is produce within ourselves something of the silence, the humility, the detachment, the purity of heart and the indifference which are required if the inner self is to make some shy, unpredictable manifestation of presence.
Loving communication implies prayerful surrender to the word of God speaking in ourselves and others. Out of this respectful openness there emerges the wisdom to know when to speak and when to be silent. When we do have to say something, we do so wisely and moderately, and to the appropriate person. In persistently trying to see the other against the background of the Sacred, we preserve inner peace.
~ from WORDS OF WISDOM FOR OUR WORLD by Susan Muto
