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my spiritual journey revisited it came in a list of homework to do before a weeks workshop: write an account of your life as a spiritual journey.i was taken aback i put it to ones side. i couldnt think how to begin. i wasnt in the habit of thinking my life in a spiritual terms at all.biographical yes. born here, lived there, met this person. had these relationship. did that job.i could see my life as a constantly updated cv. i could list educational qualifications , professional achievements. series of trainings and skills. i could see my life as a doctors notes; had measles and chicken pox, survived malaria,broken an ankle, had 2 car accidents. i could see myself as a chain of addresses or 2 failed relationships. But could i see my life as a spiritual journey?not without a lot more thought. off the top of my head i probably thought that my life was all those things- personal, geographical, professional, emotional, -with now i came to think of it, moments of what could possibly spiritual experience occassionally slotted in. but i had never thought that these moments might add up to a journey, that there might be any sense of progress or momentum or continuity. i had never thought that so many elements of my daily life would prove to have a spiritual dimension which, i realized was immensely important to me. the exercise of sitting down and looking at my life as a spiritual journey was a revelation. it made me look at my whole life in a new light. it thought me a great deal about the deeper values which underlay everything i did.it explained to me why there been a periods of my life when i had felt lost and unhappy even thought everything had looked good in the surface.Job-fine. money-fine, family-fine, health-quite alright.expression of spiritual values-not fine at all. first-it didnt involve a lot of church-going, though church-going surrounded me when i was a .i had a father who is a catholic and my mother is a methodist.i was baptized as catholic. though i will find myself alternately in both churches. i studied my primary in a school run by franciscan nuns where we say our rosary everyday while kneeling down in the school rough ground. yet none of this made me holy. whatever god was, i experienced it like the poet wordworth, out in the fields, in the woods, by the sea. and there were certain pieces of music that, inexplicably could make me cry. as i looked at my life as a spiritual journey i could see how devoid of spirit much of it was. in particular i could see why my mid twenties felt so barren under the busyness- all that partying, all that pushing the career forward, my relationships,but where was the spirit, the moments of quietness and nourushments? i could see how periods of social and professional success were simultaneously deserts and swamps. no wonder i had secretly felt lost and bewildered . and i saw with perfect clarity that my spiritual life was nourished and expressed through three main strands-family, job and nature.also saw ...i also saw that a very dark period of my life coincided with a complete lack of creative expression. which came first, the lack of creative expression or the lack of contact with my source? when we met at the workshop we spent a day taking our individual stories and turning them into visual timelines with the help of collage, paints and photographs. Our teacher debbie robertson, threw us more questions to help us make sense of our jumbled stories. "think of yourself as a river"she said "what kind of waters where you born into?serene or turbulent?fast flowing or swampy? what were the turning points? the significant bends?where was the true self that is always there, no matter whats going on? are there significant people who crop up on your spiritual journey? " by the end of the workshop we had produced an individual works of art and we all learned a lot about what it took to make us happy and fulfilled.we had a much stronger sense of purpose. what i learned was that those portions of my life where i felt most cut off from nature and blocked my connections with myself were the places where i felt most adrift.somehow these connections affected my whole sense of meaning of life.this exercise showed me vividly how it is possible to have all the things the culture says you must have and yet still feel a profound sense of loss and dislocation. what is so striking about it is that you can see exactly why this loss and dislocation occurs. an unknown author wrote "meaning and happiness, as millenia of saints , artists and philosophers have said, do not lie in wealth, status and possessions . for you they may lie in mainstreams religious practice." for me they dont. confucius said"it doesnt matter how slowly you go so long as you dont stop" truer words were never spoken ,we succeed by never stopping. i noticed it when i take my morning walk,i take the first step and keep going until i reach my destination or my desired limit. if it isto be ,its up to me,situations isnot always to myliking this days ,it doesnt always to be at my advantage,but i have to accept them,asi wasnt ableto change them...ijust have to move on with mylife and edit my cv. |
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Our spiritual journey in this life is the sole/soul purpose of living in Gods plan for us. Preparing us for eternity... Greatest feelings in the world when two souls profess a love for each other...
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Now am curious what's "cv"??? Every thing is connected Physical/Spiritual etc, by Steven Corvey. When one is whacked the other follows. Equilibrium... Greatest feelings in the world when two souls profess a love for each other...
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8/14/2012 2:35 am |
Our spiritual journey in this life is the sole/soul purpose of living in Gods plan for us. Preparing us for eternity...
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8/14/2012 6:24 pm |
Now am curious what's "cv"??? Every thing is connected Physical/Spiritual etc, by Steven Corvey. When one is whacked the other follows. Equilibrium...  then come to think of it on my personal status side needs an update as well.anyway its hard to maintain a balance of mind , body and soul (equilibrium).most people I meet truly want balance in their lives. unfortunately, it isn’t as easy as pulling a string and watching life twirl contentedly.through lifes ups and downs,we accumulate a few dents,we shudder when we should be spinning. balance has been compromised.being out of balance is not intentional with most people. nobody starts out to sabotage the equilibrium in his or her life. It just happens. unfortunately, work is often an accomplice in chipping away at that inner wheel that keeps us spinning smoothly. i remember when I first started out in my career abroad, the job was all consuming. i not only worked six days a week, i worked most evenings, as well. i wasn’t trying to neglect my lovelife or my own health, it’s simply what I thought was expected of me. As a matter of fact, life actually felt pretty good. i seemed to be accomplishing a great deal, and people honestly appeared pleased with my work. i was spinning fast, and no one tried to slow me down!!
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