I worry a little when teachers tell us to ignore or reject consolations, I can see the need not to become too attached...so it was heartening to hear Phil advising us elsewhere to receive spiritual thoughts and consolations as part of our prayer life.

I wonder if the tenderness I often feel in my left side is a consolation of sorts. It's a very mild, mellow, mallowy softness which if I attend to it expands into something more blissfully energetic. But it can't be hurried, or pounced upon. The left side of the body is feminine, I think, but this tenderness seems very much nurtured by the Father. At least when I rest wholly in His love I become aware of it. It seems to extend out from my body too, into my energy body and often leads my consciousness into an expanded totality of environment, always lovingly underpinned by the Father.

Why softness? Tenderness? Some form of blissful wound? A delicate, delicious vulnerability. It accompanies surrender and utter abandonment to Divine Presence. The softness and tenderness of love...

I worry too that when it lies with me so, it's often the prelude to a dark night, or an attack. I remember Elder Joseph the Hesychast saying such things are always followed by trial, and so has my experience been. Strange that we should be softened, not hardened, before any such danger. Toughen up, the world says. Melt into my tender love, says The Lord. Abandon everything to me...

Nice reflections, Stephen. Thanks for sharing.

We surely don't reject kind words and happy feelings when they come in the course of our human relationships. Beats me why some teachers discourage us from opening to them in our relationship with God. There's no need to worry about becoming attached to them, as we can't make them happen, and God will remove them if we do become too attached.