Opening to the Spirit
Today’s word: Journey
At the heart of each book there seemed to be a journey, often long and arduous, which brought reward or enlightenment at the end. One essential element of the plot was the formation of a band of disparate people (sometimes elves or dwarves) who travelled together on their mission. The journey bonded them as a group and was a life changing experience.
The metaphor of a journey also has deep roots in the Biblical narrative: Sara and Abram in search of a promised land, Miriam and Moses on a pilgrimage to freedom, Jesus in the wilderness to confirm his call to ministry. These journeys often led to self discovery and a meaningful purpose for life. One essential element is that the person needs to leave behind the familiar and move into the unknown with hope, trusting in the divine presence.
I have been on many journeys in my life. I travelled the country in my youth, went to school to pursue my dreams, moved to new provinces for work. I am beginning a new life journey in a few weeks. I look forward to the challenges and know I am not alone on my travels. What journeys await you, dear reader? Are you open to leaving behind the familiar and walking into the future with hope?
3) In Joseph Campbell's metaphor for life, the Hero's Journey, we are all on a path of mythic proportions. We set out from that similar place called birth, moving in the same basic direction toward life's end, carrying different loads on varied ways that diverge and converge. And the journey changes us, along the way we meet challengers and allies on the roadside, guardians or gargoyles or tricksters at the gate. So many bends in the road, rivers to cross, forks of decision or even a complete U-turn, open vistas and fallen tree trunks. The path may seem like a dead-end, a maze or cul-de-sac, from which we must turn back and recalibrate. Does the spirit have a GPS? How often do you consult some inner compass, a sense of purpose or vision of the future to keep from being hopelessly lost?
Reaching the destination will make it all worthwhile. But I remember wondering once, in the seemingly endless formation for ministry, why the whole program was one long amazing ride uphill most of the way. Brief moments of peace or accomplishment were quickly followed by one more fiery hoop or another to jump through. Would I ever arrive, and would I like where I was when I finally got there? That journey taught me there was no there, there. This was a path of discovery I'd be on forever, so I'd need to learn to be content just being on the journey.
No sooner do we arrive than we're off again. And so it goes till journey's end. Spiritual teachers encourage us to move beyond the driveness of a perpetual search for some new state of being. Happiness, we're told, is an inner journey toward a state that requires no travel fees - and the less baggage, the better! If every moment is a new arrival - presto, we're already there!
4) That old Diana Ross song from the 70’s asks: “Do you know where you’re going to? Do you like the things that life is showing you?” Um. No…yes…maybe…i don’t know.
Sometimes we only see the journey in retrospect. We look back at where we have been and we look around at where we are now and it all makes sense. Sometimes things that seemed like failures at the time become the life lessons that lead us to make different choices. Sometimes we learn things about ourselves from “mistakes” that we would never otherwise never known.
Wherever we go on our journey, God is always at the center. We learn from the cross that sometimes things that look like failure can be used for transformation. We learn that God can take what looks like brokenness and make something holy. And we learn that we can always come home.
In my daily morning prayer, this one is always included:
May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever He may send you.
May He guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May He bring you home rejoicing at the wonders He has shown you. May He bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors. We are always returning home. Whether our journey takes us to other lands or just through the storms of our life right where we are, God is with us.
One word, four voices - now it's your turn to answer the question: How is your life like a journey, and where is it leading you?
Rev. Mead Baldwin pastors the Waterville & North Hatley pastoral charge; Rev. Lynn Dillabough is now Rector of St. Paul's in Brockville ON. She continues to write for this column as a dedicated colleague with the Eastern Townships clergy writing team; Rev. Lee Ann Hogle ministers to the Ayer’s Cliff, Magog & Georgeville United Churches; Rev. Carole Martignacco is Consulting Minister to UU Estrie-unitarian Universalists in North Hatley.