WHAT IS MEANT BY A SPIRITUAL PATH
To talk about what is meant by ‘spiritual path,’ I want to take you back in time to a special place in my childhood.
When I was growing up, there was a field near our summer place in Maine that had a ‘pump house’ that enclosed a well with an old-fashioned pump. It sat on the far back corner of a meadow across the road from our camp.
Lifting a handle that was longer-than-I-was-tall, I pumped and pumped until cold refreshing water rushed up from the depths and filled the jug that I had hung on the lip of the pump. (Pump Photo byHerbert-Goetsch on Unsplash; Child; Photo by Artur-Aldyrkhanov on Unsplash)
The well supplied all the camps on the lake with water so fresh you could taste the sunshine.
When I was just big enough to tote a gallon jug between my toddling legs, I would set off with my older sister down the driveway and across the field. We followed a path worn by the feet of many people going to fill their jugs or buckets.
PATH AS ‘WILDERNESS JOURNEY’
Now, 70 years later, when I hear the word’ path,’ I remember this ‘wilderness journey’ as if it were yesterday.
Throughout the intervening years, I have followed many soft needled routes flattened by pilgrims before me through woods (or forests, depending on what you call it), along coastlines, up mountains, and through parks.
If these trails lead somewhere, it isn’t all that important to me most of the time. I will follow the path until I tire, and then turn around and retrace my steps until I return to where I began.
I may start out asking, “Where does this way lead? What will I do if it forks? I wonder if anyone has made a map?”
But pretty soon, these questions shake out of my brain, and I become settled with one step, one wildflower, one butterfly at a time. The path itself is my goal, not some well or landing place at the other end.
Such is the nature of a spiritual journey.
When asked about your spiritual walk in life, you may think of your religious education, family practices like saying grace or lighting a Shabbat candle.
We tend to think and communicate about tangible things. When it comes to describing something ineffable, we are stumped because, by definition, when something is ineffable, it can’t be described in words.
A CLOSER LOOK
So to understand what is meant by ‘spiritual path,’ let us take a closer look at the route I took to the pump house.
As I said, I was barely tall enough to hold a gallon jar off the ground. Perhaps three years old. To say it was a burden was an understatement.
A spiritual quest is similar. Many times we set off with the naïveté of a child carrying a burden so heavy we struggle to keep our balance.
We continue because there is someone we want to please, or the load challenges us, and we want to prove we can do it!
We set our intention on where we want to end up. It might be a career, a standard of living, a meaningful life, or heaven, but the distance is so far we often cannot see over the tall grasses between us and the well at the end.
Stumbling and falling is a frequent event, yet we pick ourselves up and take another step. We often get preoccupied by faces in the clouds, a bumblebee sucking sweetness out of a wild rose, a rustle in the leaves. That too is our path.
DISTRACTIONS AND OBSTRUCTIONS
On my pilgrimage, I have been distracted by conflicting ideologies, worship of idols, charlatans offering shiny things, and faith healers with no experience of grace. In a world with so many ‘gods,’ I have wanted to throw down my jug in despair.
I’m like that little three-year-old who would rather chase butterflies than go straight to the well and back. Your course may be like mine, with many turns, uneven surfaces, and uphill climbs. But there is much to learn along the way.
Every single turn made me stronger, wiser, and more able to carry the burden of a big jug.
Of course, the older and taller I got, the jug, by comparison, grew smaller and lighter. Things that weighed me down mercilessly when I was young are not quite as heavy today.
Failure to climb to perfection, unfulfilled dreams, and awareness of my greed and selfishness are some of the weights I carry today. I am much more skilled at setting them down. I permit myself to leave these stones along the way as I cross the field to the pump house.
THE HEART AS PUMPHOUSE
What is my ‘pump house’? Well, that would be my heart. My heart is where I find a well of ‘Water’ – love, hope, peace, joy, and forgiveness. I can go there anytime I need to draw from this well. I have found that there is also a bit of sediment in my well – jealousy, greed, laziness, judgment. The thing about residue in a well is it settles out if the liquid is allowed to sit. It’s just sediment, after all. Because Water is what I am after, I learn to practice stillness and patience. And repetition. It is a daily trek to the well. After waddling back with my jug full, I find myself offering its refreshing content to others as well as drinking deeply to satisfy my thirst. (Photo by Evie on Unsplash)
Are you meandering through meadows or forests, chasing butterflies, or exploring tide pools? Eventually, you will bump into your own pump house. What will you find there?
Is the well dry? That’s OK. It only needs to be primed.
Is the Water full of sediment? That’s OK too. Let it rest a bit.
Is your bucket too full? Even that’s OK…give some away.
Are you still thirsty? It looks like there may be another trip to the pump house in your future.
In the meantime, check out this article about spiritual wisdom in a red pepper.
