Your body is a temple, and your soul – your mind, emotions, and will – is the inner sanctum where you meet with the influence of the Divine on a day-to-day basis. And there, in that inner sanctuary, is an entire inner community, waiting to help lead you forward.
Dr. Catherine Meeks, in her book The Night is Long but Light Comes in the Morning: Meditations for Racial Healing, describes that inner community in this way:
The inner community is made up of all the narratives that have shaped our understanding of reality, all our personal experiences, and our connection to the collective unconscious. The journeys of our ancestors are brought along with us as we travel the path from birth to death.
Your parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents, as well as all of those in your family tree who have influenced your thinking, are part of that inner community. Also gathered there are the voices of those whose counsel you’ve consumed in books and other media as well as the advice you’ve sought from friends and peers.
There is a sense in which your long gone ancestors are part of your inner community in that, the way they lived their lives had an impact on the generations before you. Their tendencies in decision-making, particular personalities, and physical and geographical movements all touch your life eve today.
The question is, how do you lean on the collective wisdom of your inner community?
Dr. Meeks continues:
The work of exploring our inner community allows us to become aware of the kind of energies living within us and to be in conversation with them. This can lead to new ways of seeing what we thought we already knew. Such examination of our lives is crucial if we have any interest in being well. We have to engage with the conflicting voices inside our heads and hearts in order to hear the truth about ourselves.
Whenever you think, feel, pray, assess, and make decisions, remember the existence and presence of your inner community. Consider ways in which you’re living according to patterns established before you were ever born. Some of those tendencies need to die in your generation while others need to flourish long beyond your lifetime.
It’s just one more reminder that you never walk alone. God is always present with you, and in the holy space in your soul where you experience his presence, you also get to be touched by a larger inner community. Never take that for granted.
Photo by Huy Phan on Unsplash.
- Hardcover Book
- Meeks, Catherine (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 224 Pages - 11/22/2022 (Publication Date) - Morehouse Publishing (Publisher)
