I have long been aware that some other people seem to have a stronger spirituality than I. I have accepted for many years that some people are more musical than others, and some people attain amazing levels of skill or expertise, not only because they are born with those attributes, but also because they practice very hard. Maybe Jesus and Teresa of Avila, for example, both had naturally strong spiritual predispositions whereas others of us (including many of the saints) require help to recognize the spirit at work. For me there has been no personal experience of a shoulder tap, a calling, a road-to-Damascus experience that has brought me to my knees in blinding light. I recognize that many, including George Fox and Jesus, had significant times of retreat or withdrawal linked with their revelations.

I have slowly come to realize and accept that my spirituality is present and real for me even if it has not been in the form of major, dramatic life experiences. I have re-thought my concept of my own spirituality and have come to realize that I have had experiences that truly were spiritual. I can now acknowledge I do have a spiritual basis to my life and bring that spiritual sense of connectedness to decision making that I can depend upon. I also see that others have different experiences, and that it is all right for mine to be different from others’; neither less nor greater, just different. Just as with music, dance, and insight, such proclivities and abilities are differently distributed, and other people have more of some, whereas I have more of others.

–Linda Wilson in Pendle Hill Pamphlet 437: Metaphors of Meaning