Vessel of Invocation

The first law of spiritual life is that if one is to know Spirit, then one needs to have (or be) an appropriate vessel in order to receive Spirit. Spirit must have a proper carrier, a vessel, or a temple in which to dwell. St. Paul understood this when he said, “We have this treasure in earthen vessels,” and “your body is the temple of the sacred Spirit.” In each case, Spirit is embodied, and the body, far from being inimical to Spirit can become a temple or a carrier saturated with Spirit. This is the first law.

The second is that the sacred Spirit is not some abstract force, it is Presence with mind, will, heart, and consciousness in the same way that the people around us possess personal presence. When we engage another human being, we invoke (or call out to) that same presence inside of them that we ourselves possess. The presence in me calls out to the presence in you, and we form a bond of relationship. The Psalmist said that the depths in me calls out to touch the depths in you—this is the second law of invocation.

The Spirit, therefore, will be present if invoked by an appropriate receptacle in which to receive it. Since, when Spirit manifests itself, we can only recognize its presence through the power of our own consciousness, consciousness is itself revealed, in the human sphere, as the primary means and receptacle of Presence. A conscious being as a body or temple prepared, calling out to Spirit, is the central vessel of invocation.