I sometimes hear people talk about “the God within,” or “the divine spark” in each of us. I urge caution about such language. It can be a short distance from such phrases to saying that we are all little gods, with the power to control our own destinies. As attractive as that notion might be to some (not to me – God help me if I am my own god!), it is not the Way that Jesus invites his followers to travel.
The New Testament teaches that the presence of Christ is within each of us by virtue of our baptism. “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me,” Paul writes, not because his identity has been supplanted in an “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” way, but because his identity has been fulfilled, perfected in union with Christ through baptism. He has become most truly who he is in union with Christ.
The way we receive the full-time presence of Christ in our persons is through the gift of the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of Christ. “You know him,” Jesus says to his disciples, “because he abides with you, and he will be in you.” The promise that Christ’s life abides – rests, stays, hangs out – within us offers tremendous resources; ultimate power, the power that made all things and restores all things. “Same power that conquered the grave lives in me…” we sing.
When we live in the knowledge of Christ’s life within us we pray differently, act differently, hope differently. We don’t pray for God's power to descend on us from above, but that the power already in us by virtue of our union with Christ be released in us, and through us for others. We pray not as though we’re on a long distance call, but from within a heart-to-heart conversation, Christ’s heart in our heart.
We act differently, because we are acting on the power, promise and presence of God, not waiting for those to be manifest outside us. And we hope differently, knowing that God’s love is so very near, so very “already.” Of course, there is a “not yet fully realized” dimension, but so much more in the here and now than we often recognize.
I started to know “Christ within” through cultivating the practice of centering prayer, seeking to become still and able to tune in to the Spirit’s prayer in me, to “pray/imagine” Jesus in conversation, to be able to praise. I get to that still place most quickly through praying in tongues – which Paul says is the Spirit’s prayer released in us. “…for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit prays within us with sighs too deep for words.” (Romans 8:26) I don't know Christ well, but he isn’t “out there”; he’s in here.
How do you experience Christ within you? If you want, sit in stillness, in prayer, and say, “Jesus – I am told you live with me and in me. I would like to experience more of your life in me. How do I do that?” Wait in silence, and pay attention to any images or words that form in your mind. If your to-do list forms, gently invite it to wait over there, and return your focus to your prayer. You can repeat, “Jesus,” or another word or phrase. Try it for five minutes, and see what comes. Write down whatever transpires, and do it again another day.
Some people experience the reality of Christ within more keenly in action than in contemplation, or in worship. There is no “right” way. There is only invitation to more fullness and life than we’ve ever dreamed of.
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