Have you ever been lost, and can’t find where you are going? I’ve been lost many times: In a country where I didn’t speak the language. In a big city where all the streets seem to be one way. What do you do is this situation? Ask for directions? Seek assistance? Check the map? Retrace your steps?
It is frustrating to know, and not know, at the same time, where you are, and how to get to where you want to go. “It’s the journey, not the destination,” they say. Well, maybe. But when you are lost, those words don’t seem helpful.
On a spiritual journey, feeling lost, entering the unknown, and seeking guidance, is how it works. Living life as a sacred journey is an invitation to open our eyes, hearts, and minds in new ways. It is a call to both outward practice and inner reflection. It is an opportunity to step out of comfort zones, let go of old patterns, and engage new insights. It asks us, again and again, to embrace the gift of change.
Along with every part of the outer journey, there is also an inner component—a feeling, a learning, a prompting to pay attention, go deeper, and live into a growing edge. This can be an uncomfortable place, to meet a part of oneself that is resistant to change, resistant to acknowledge or face something difficult.
At the recent ERUUF spiritual practices retreat, we explored resources to cultivate resilience in difficult times. To begin, we were all invited to identify a challenge we were facing, creatively express/write it with colorful paper and markers, then place it in a large bowl next to the central chalice. This represented a collective ritual to honor our own journey, and also hold it with each other in community, as we entered a day of practice—meditation, breath, creative expression, sharing, movement, and singing.