On this date in 1969, humanity put the first man on the moon.  That was 43 years ago!  I remember getting my three-month-old little brother out of his crib to sit with him in front of the television so that he could say he watched the first man walk on the moon.  It was an historic occasion.  A moment in time.  And, think of the progress we have made since then.  In that time, there has been an amazing amount of new technology from personal computers to cell phones; digital imaging to the internet.  The list is almost endless.  Our lives have changed because of the progress we have made since that point in time when the first man walked on the moon.

But the question needs to be asked:  How much progress have we made in our spiritual lives in that time?  The answer to that becomes more difficult, because we tend to spend so much less time perfecting our spiritual lives.

This all comes to me because I am reading a spiritual classic from 1944 by Caryll Houselander entitled The Reed of God.  While there are numerous insightful thoughts and comments to ponder throughout the book, after my experience yesterday, the one I read this morning goes to the top of the list.

In the book, she relates the story of an old man who was loved by many people.  He had revealed that the secret of his good nature and companion-ability was a simple spiritual practice.  Whenever he met someone, he would greet the Christ within them in secret, before greeting the person out loud.

What a simple spiritual practice!  And what amazing wisdom for our day – wisdom that somehow has been overshadowed through the years by the progress of our technological world.  Can we take the challenge and rely on the spiritual wisdom of over 60 years ago to give us a renewed progress in our spiritual lives today?

It would be a grace to try.