February 03, 7:00pm (Kevin Westling)
The dramatic difference between spiritual journeys as described by mystics and spiritual masters, versus novels and movies, is…well, drama.
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Preached@Trinity
Sunday Evening, January 29, 2012
Trinity@7: “An encounter with God,
without all the religion”
Texts: “Journey” by Mary Oliver
“Journey Home” by Rabindranath Tagore
“Hard is the Journey” by Li Po
Journey?
Are we talking spiritual journey,
as in Lord of the Rings –
tunnels,
caves,
volcanoes,
ferries, goblins and dragons?
Or are we talking psychological journey,
as in Peter Pan and Captain Hook,
or Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader,
or Dr. Frankenstein and Boris?
The dramatic difference
between spiritual journeys
as described
by mystics and spiritual masters,
versus novels and movies,
is…well, drama.
The spiritual journey
is always done in-house,
as if on a treadmill.
A spiritual journey takes place
inside ourselves,
taking the escalator down
a few floors
rather than going anywhere beyond.
The sad truth is,
by the standards of cinemagraphic
images and narrative
of contemporary story-telling,
our spiritual journeys
would not sell, or not well.
In fact, “journey” may be a misnomer.
I think, in fact,
a spiritual journey
is more like gardening
or farming
than a journey.
“Journey”
makes it sound a bit too extraordinary,
as in out-of-the-ordinary.
A spiritual journey,
like farming,
involves the hard work of hoeing,
digging
weeding
tending
and feeding,
and over time,
growing the spirit upward
while deepening the roots of wisdom downward,
simultaneously.
It is more sweaty
than heroic,
more incremental
than vast,
and more exhausting
than dangerous.
Note that Mary Oliver’s description
uses images of movement
but describes the
motions of consciousness –
of awakening.
Or in Rabindranath Tagore’s poem,
it is a journey to “home”
after seeking elsewhere,
outside and beyond oneself.
The “I am”
is here within,
all the time “here,” Tagore writes,
when we have searched “there.”
We know that, of course;
because we have made the mistake
of looking elsewhere
so many times.
We have all stumbled
back across our own stoop,
after having sought in vain
for ourselves
in the world beyond,
in the people around us,
and in the things we strove to reach.
All for naught,
when finally we fall
all alone
into ourselves.
All alone
into ourselves
where, if anywhere,
the journey begins.
Here is a little secret.
It doesn’t matter whether it is
therapy,
spiritual direction,
pilgrimage,
yoga,
meditation,
centering prayer,
workshops,
clinics,
books,
or journaling…
they are all
only techniques;
methods,
tools and
not the thing itself.
The journey in,
into our own lives
is finally a solitary trek.
There is no guide,
no one who can take us deep into the forest,
nor lead us out again.
Others can walk with us,
to a point;
and others
can equip us with wisdom,
method,
and perspective.
But we, finally, go it alone.
That is the journey:
to stand alone,
with oneself
and enter.
It is full of surprises,
rewards,
pain, and confusion.
The voice
of the one we seek
resides in the very places
we most resist:
deep
within memories,
deep
in the dark of forgetfulness,
deep
down in the raw tissues of woundedness.
It is there,
in those places,
where we hear “the voice
of the only life we can save,”
and “melt into the tears of
a thousand streams of the assurance,”
and “lay our chopsticks down.”
Again, there
are any number of tools we can use,
but the tools do not do the work for us.
There are numerous guides
who will gladly help us,
but they are cheerleaders
at our back,
not ferryboat captains
pulling us forward.
The journey begins with us,
with our own will
to enter into the dark,
and walk
until we meet
the cast of characters inside;
listen to their voices;
hear the din and mayhem;
feel the pain and the hurt and the joy
ricocheting off the walls of our own heart,
and in the folds of our own mind.
The journey begins with us…with our own will…
in solitude…inside the only life we can save.
Good luck,
we’re all counting on you.
And now,
let us take a few moments in quiet,
before the music begins,
to take just a small step
inside,
and reach into the dark
and meet whoever
is standing there within us.
When Krista and Ed begin the music,
feel free to step to the candle wall
and light a candle for the journey.
