Friday, January 30, 2015

Walking the Pilgrim's Path

Journey of Transformation

We start out as pilgrims, wanting to journey and hoping to be transformed by the journey.”
Mark Nepo (The Book of Awakening)

You may be tired of hearing me say this, but life itself is the journey, and whether or not we set our foot on a spiritual path, we cannot help taking the journey. We set out as children with the naivety of untried beings entertaining delusions of grandeur, and that is as it should be. If we are not grandiose and convinced of our own power to change the world as young people, we will have missed an important developmental milestone—overconfidence. We need this to propel us forward.

Along the way, we see things we believe are indications of “success.” We see wealth and popularity, we see glamour and comfort, and we seize upon these. Sometimes they are enough. But after a while, they light a smoky fire within us—the fear of losing them, jealousy of someone taking away what we have achieved for ourselves. Then we are well and truly hooked—like a striped bass on a big, shiny lure. Then fear begins to direct our every move—often into very dark places.

We need this experience, too. Believe it or not, it's often the one that leads us back to the pilgrim's path. We wake up one day with the undeniable realization that there has to be more than this. For life to have real meaning, there must be freedom from fear. Not only that, but there must be joy untethered to, and unadulterated by, the world's siren call. We return to our soul path—the only one that connects us to wholeness—transformed.

                                                      In the Spirit,

                                                           Jane

No comments: