We all have our unique way of perceiving and understanding the world so it would be a mistake to assume that any word or phrase means the same to everyone else. Such a phrase is “the Divine Within”
One obvious view is of The Divine as a separate part of one’s self like ‘a currant in a bun’. Jesus uses this concept of ‘a grain of mustard’ [#20] which can grow within us if our internal conditions are suitable (this is however, more about the kingdom rather than the Divine spirit). He also refers to the leaven within the flour that yields large loaves [#96], and of course one of the most common concept is that of the Seed [#9]
These examples present the Divine as isolated i.e. constrained within the boundaries of our little Self, another part of the many things that make us who we are: emotions, feelings, thoughts beliefs. It can become a compartment that we open only on special times or days e.g. Sundays. When we view the Divine in this way it means that we must rely on our own ‘power’ to seek, to find, to respond, to wonder, to worship. We have a choice and we are in control; this has an appeal for the modern mind.
However, Jesus suggests a different concept in logion [#77]; perhaps using his different Voice (see His Other Voice).
In this logion the Divine is everywhere and we can be likened to “a wave in the ocean”; we are individual expressions (the wave) of a universal force (the ocean): the All.
Here the Divine is an encompassing powerful force beyond our individual selves. We rise and fall with each subtle movement over time. Sometimes we may be a breaking wave, full of energy and vigour and at other times we are at rest; ‘movement with a repose’ [#50]. Then when we eventually come ‘ashore’ we return to the Divine source: our end is also our beginning [#18]
However, Jesus warns us that the Divine is all around us but we may not recognize it [#113], or we are asleep to its promptings [#51], drunk in the world [#28], busy with our worldly affairs [#64], or even worse a ‘corpse’ [#60].
This view of the encompassing All means that we are not in control, but we know that we are part of the Divine and that we will return to It again [#49]. We do not have a choice in this. The Divine force will press upon our inner world, nudging us towards the full expression of our Real Selves.
At the heart of these two views lies the concept of control. When the Divine is perceived as a separate part of us, then we believe that we are in control. When the Divine is the wholeself then we have no control; the Divine leads us in everything.
How many of us are truly willing to surrender our whole lives to the Divine Within; to be a wave in the ocean?
20: Tell us what is the Kingdom of the heavens like? He said to them: it is like a grain of mustard, smaller than all seeds;
96: The Kingdom of the Father is like a woman, who took a little leaven ...
9: Behold, the sower went out. He filled his hand and threw...
77: I am the Light above them all. I am the All. The All comes forth from me, and the All reaches towards me.
50: “What is the sign of the Father in you?” say to them: “it is a movement with a repose.”
18: For in the Place where the beginning is, there will be the end.
113: But the Kingdom of the Father is spread out over the earth, but men do not see it
51: He said to them: What you expect has come but you, you recognize it not
28: I found them all drunk: I found none of them athirst, and my soul was afflicted...
64:
Buyers and merchants shall not enter the Place of my Father
60: You yourselves, seek after a Place for yourselves within Repose, lest you become corpses and be eaten
49: Happy are the ‘loners’ and the chosen for you shall find the Kingdom. Because you are from the heart of it, you shall return there again