…..Lately I'm reading a lot of Matthew Fox. He is a Dominican by training (though no longer a priest, due to his beliefs) and has Daily Meditations one can receive by email. He is also a prolific author of books. The first I ever read was an explanation of the Lord's Prayer, a great introduction to a more gracious approach to being with God than one will find, for example, with "literal" interpretations of the Bible.
He has come to explore the writings and the heart of Thomas Aquinas, a 13th c. thinker who was interested in finding truth wherever it might be found.
Here are some examples of Aquinas' writings: Every truth without exception - and whoever may utter it - is from the Holy Spirit.
The old pagan virtues were from God.
Revelation has been made to many pagans.
He was a Creation Spiritualist; He saw God in real-life things. For him, all being is holy, a revelation of the divine.
Perhaps this is why I find myself closest to the Eternal when in the wildness of the Land... where my mind can be still
Joy; Although I was brought up in a Christian family and environment I really never took much interest in it. But I’ve had more and more positive experiences and encounters with it as an adult and often find similarities of experience with it that remind me of some ‘mystical experiences’ with nature.