"No matter how busy we are, we can spare one or two 'holy instants' each hour."

Imagine that you are a traveler who finds yourself in a strange new land. You have heard wonderful things about the natural scenery in this part of the world, and decide to take a long walk in order to see the sights.

While strolling through a forest, you hear a faraway sound. You strain your ears to hear. It sounds like a person calling out – but the sound is muffled and faint. You go in the direction of the voice.

Eventually you come across a remarkable sight. There is a deep hole before you – almost like a well – and at the bottom of the hole is a man. He's calling out for help.

"Hey down there!" you say to him. "Are you OK?"

"Can someone help me?" says the man. "Anybody? I can't believe how deep this hole is. I'm really stuck. Is there anyone there? Hello? I could really use some help!"

"Yes!" you shout. "I can help you."

"Hello?" says the man. "I could use some help! Will somebody help me please?" The man doesn't seem to hear you. He continues to call out for help.

You look around and find some vines hanging on a nearby tree. You cut them down and study the hole that the man has fallen into. It won't be easy to free him, but you see a way to use the vines and the various features on the sides of the hole to get him out. You call out to him:

"Hey there! I can use these vines to help you. But you'll have to –"

"Is anyone there?" he says. "I could really use some help!"

"Yes," you yell. "I'm here. I can help you out. But you'll have to first reach –"

"Can anyone help?" he says. "Please, can someone help me!"

You step back and consider the situation. The man doesn't seem to hear you at all. But there's something else – you notice that he doesn't stop talking. Not ever. He simply doesn't pause at all. He can't hear you over the sound of his own voice.

"Hey!" you say. "Hey! Hey, stop for a second! Hey!"

"I could really use some help!"

"Hey! Just listen for a second!"

"Is anyone there? I could really use some help!"

Things go on like this for quite some time. Eventually you sit down in exasperation. You need the man's cooperation, but he won't pause long enough to listen to you.

While you're sitting, you hear another voice in the distance. You move toward the sound of it, and find something shocking. There's another hole in the ground – this one with a woman in it.

"Hello," she says, "Hello, is anyone there? I could use some help. Can anyone help me?"

What type of place is this? you think to yourself. People in holes who won't stop talking?

"Hey!" you say to her. "Hey! Hey there! Stop talking for a second!"

The woman pauses. "Hello? Was that someone up there?"

"Yes!" you say. "I can help you!"

"Hello? Can someone help me? I can't get out of this hole. I could really use some help." She returns to her stream of words.

You try talking to her for a few minutes, and occasionally catch her attention. But you can't seem to hold a conversation with her – much less give her instructions about how to use the vines to get out of the hole.

After a while, you leave her and walk around the area. To your surprise, you find more people at the bottom of holes. You try talking with them, but none will pause long enough to carry on a conversation. None, that is, until you find a deep hole with a very old man. He seems to be remarkably weary. And he is quiet.

"Hey," you say. "Can you hear me?"

"Hello?" he says. "Hello? Yes. I can hear you. Can you help me?"

"Yes," you say. "But I need you to listen to me. Can you do that? Can you stay focused on listening to me?

"Yes," he says. "I think I can."

And you proceed to give him instructions about how to use the vines and how to find footholds, and together you work to bring him out of the hole. When he's free, he thanks you for your help.

"I've been in that hole for a long time," he says. "I would call out for help night and day. But no one came. Today I finally became exhausted and stopped calling out. And a few minutes after that I heard your voice. What a strange experience."

The he pauses and adds, "Who knows – perhaps there were always people like you trying to help me out. I never stopped calling out long enough to find out."

Practicing Listening

I share this story because we are all somewhat like these people. As we go through our lives, we find ourselves caught in various pitfalls and challenges. We call out for help – perhaps to God, perhaps to other people. Or perhaps we screw up our will and try to singlehandedly climb our way out of the holes we've fallen into. Sometimes we succeed; but even then, we sometimes fall right back into a new hole. It's an exhausting enterprise.

However, there's an important lesson that A Course in Miracles and other spiritual texts teach. According to these teachings, we have a divine Helper that is trying to assist us with every single problem and every single challenge that we face. This Helper never abandons us. It is trying to help us all the time, with every issue in our lives.

Unfortunately, like the people in the story, we rarely hear the help that's being offered. We our too distracted by our mind's chatter. Our Helper cannot speak over our own voices. We have to quiet our minds in order to receive the assistance that is being offered.

In many spiritual traditions, prayer is viewed as an activity where a person tells God what he or she needs. But A Course in Miracles offers a very different picture of prayer. True prayer, according to the Course, is "an active time of listening" in which we simply open our hearts and minds to receive the inspiration of our Helper.

Ideally, we don't outline our desires during these prayer times. We don't insist on how and why we need help. Instead, we simply quiet our minds and open our hearts to the support that is constantly offered. We merely accept the support that we need.

Like the people in the story, we need – and have – help with our challenges. This help is offered continually. But it is help that we can only receive when we become quiet and open enough to hear it.

Let me offer one idea from A Course in Miracles that I have found helpful in this practice. The Course encourages us to try to open our minds for simply one moment at a time. In these "holy instants," in which we allow our chattering minds to quiet and become receptive, new, inspired thoughts can immediately flow in.

We can practice these "holy instants" throughout our day – perhaps once or twice an hour, for just a moment or two at a time. No matter how busy we are, we can spare one or two "holy instants" each hour. This is sometimes all that is needed.

I encourage you to experiment with this type of practice, and see what you find. Even one moment of true open-mindedness can open the gates to a wealth of inspiration. One shining instant is sometimes all we need.

A version of this article appeared in Dan Joseph's Quiet Mind newsletter. Additional articles are featured at http://www.danjoseph.com/newsletter.htm.

back to the Dan Joseph index ->