The Call: When God Speaks. Do you listen?

What role does God play in your life? If God plays no role are you an atheist?

When you hear the salutation; God is great! Are you uplifted, do you grimace or is there nothing? Regardless of how you name or describe God or the presence of God, is there room in your life for divine inspiration? Is there a nagging desire to create something beautiful with the precious energy of your life?

My relationship with God is subtle. I neither reject the Catholicism of my youth nor practice institutional Catholicism. I pray on a regular basis but I mostly pray for acceptance of life as I experience it or for God's grace to bless anyone in need. My primary spiritual practice is a devotional path also called a bhakti practice in yoga. A devotional practice serves the purpose reminding yourself that you are beneath god. The focal point of your devotion is either God or a symbol of god's presence in this world.

What inspires and affirms your best self? At times, we are all called, to take risk and action and to expend energy to help or protect. One of the reasons that I related to the Boy Scouts and became an Eagle Scout was that its principals called to my better or best self. It was never about perfection or being a "goody two shoes" but rather about the realization that through daily action that you could be a better person and influence those around you.

If you are an atheist, you may simply substitute the word, self for God or the divine. I say this with no disrespect for atheism. In the future, will atheism sweep away god and the divine?

Everyone of us is called to do more with our lives. When you sincerely practice your spiritual path and focus your precious life's energy on creating something with meaning, you are aware and listening to this call. We are all capable of this but we do not all find it in our heart to do so.

The final note that I would add about answering your call is that you are both with all the world and completely alone, when you take on your call.

In a medieval story retold by Joseph Campbell, the great teacher and researcher of Mythology, related in an interview with Bill Moyers; " ... the holy grail appeared to the knights of the round table. The knights agreed to take upon themselves the grail quest. Yet when they left the round table and entered the forest, they each entered at a different place. For the knights knew that even on a common quest they must follow their own unique path."