Inner Feelings – Sunday, October 19, 1980
There is within us all a heavenly homesickness. Whether we describe it as hearing the harps eternal, or with some other metaphor, it is a feeling deeply sensed that we are more than mortal; that there is spiritual as well as earthly matter in us and in the world around.
The philosopher John Locke wrote, “Every act of sensation, when duly considered, gives us an equal view of both parts of nature, the corporeal and spiritual. I. . . know that there is some spiritual being within me that sees and hears.”1
Such spiritual sensations as Locke described seem to be universal. They are often inward impressions or feelings and are hard to describe; but they are as real as anything in our universe. In fact the eminent scientist T. H. Huxley once wrote, “Only one absolute certainty is possible to man, namely, that at any given moment the feeling which he has exists.”2
Yes, our feelings are real, they are powerful and they are as varied as each new day’s experience. Some feelings bring us joy, some pain. But there is one feeling we should cultivate and treasure as a priceless pearl. This is the feeling we experience when the spirit of the Lord touches our hearts and minds.
At first the feeling may be small and subtle as a warm glow of well being; at other times it might be a tingling, burning sensation within our soul that awakens us to the reality of things spiritual.
As we continue to conform our lives more closely to our Father’s will, we place ourselves in position to partake more fully of His power.
The fires of faith begin to burn more brightly in our being. The flickering candle of hope with which we groped our way through life’s dark corridors becomes a blazing beacon of unshakable belief guiding and sustaining us along our way.
1 John Locke, Concerning Human Understanding, Book II, XXIII, p. 15.
2 T. H. Huxley, Letter to J.G.T. Sinclair, July21, 1890, quoted in Great Treasury of Western Thought, Mortimer J. Alder and Charles Van Daren Eds., R. R. Bowker Company, New York, 1977, p. 332.
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October 19, 1980
Broadcast Number 2,670