My Soul Is Thirsting

Tags

calling, Cynthia Bourgeault, homecoming, mystery, paths, pilgrimage, psalm 63, relationship, resonance, spiritual journey, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, thirst, Thomas Merton

This morning the psalmist cries out: My soul is  thirsting for you, my God! The whole of Psalm 63 is a passionate expression of what it means to be on a spiritual journey and is as relevant today as it was in the lifetime of Jesus or of the Israelites in the desert. Each of us is called, as we wake up to the necessity of relationship with something greater than ourselves, to search for what slakes that thirst. Some of us “go it alone” but most find companions on the way whose desire mirrors our own.

Today I leave on what I have come to see as both pilgrimage and homecoming while 14 people, some still sleeping across our yard, have come here to go deeper in their spiritual quest. Neither is preferable; both lead us on to more meaningful living. I will be sharing this week with about 80 seekers, many my “familiars,” in the hometown of my teacher, Cynthia Bourgeault. It is worth the 12-hour drive (only half of which I will do by myself) to touch back for a week into an experience of deep resonance that has been building in me for the past dozen years. I could just as well stay home in the company of another inspired teacher whose language is not as familiar but whose depth and spiritual authority I highly respect. But I go with expectation and joy.

There is mystery in our callings toward God. This morning I celebrate the variety of paths that lead us irrevocably to conscious union. For me, today, Thomas Merton says it best.

My only desire is to give myself completely to the action of this infinite love, Who is God, Who demands to transform me into Himself secretly, darkly, in simplicity, in a way that has no drama about it and is infinitely beyond everything spectacular and astonishing, so is its significance and its power. (Entering the Silence, p.48)

 

 

 

 

 

Pilgrimage

Tags

being with God, pilgrimage, psalm 84, refreshment, rest, retreat, soul, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, yearning

 

Psalm 84 speaks of the loveliness of God’s dwelling and our desire to find and join God there. Yearning always arises in me when I hear or read the words that are so familiar. My heart and my flesh cry out for God, the Living God…Even the sparrow finds a home, your altars, O God…My response is always a wish to have the day to hide “in the shadow of God’s wing” in pure being with God. That is certainly a flight of fancy because I know myself and even if I did have a whole day with nothing pressing to do, I probably wouldn’t be able to be quiet and attentive. Only if I go on a retreat, a dedicated time and place that others share but spend in silence, am I more likely to allow myself to bask in God’s presence.

In a commentary that I read this morning, the author speaks of this as one of the “pilgrimage psalms” – which fits my reflection above. He talks about the tradition, common in many religious traditions, of “going on pilgrimage” and speaks of the possibility of both an outer and an inner pilgrimage. Of the former he says: Have you ever felt the need, or made such a pilgrimage yourself? This may simply have been in the form of returning to a wonderful spot on earth where you had previously found rest and refreshment of soul. It is important to find such places. In fact, “mini pilgrimages” can be made to places of sanctuary and retreat throughout the weeks and months of our lives. He then turns to the image of an inner pilgrimage saying: The outer pilgrimage often reflects something far deeper, an inner journey across the desert landscape of the soul to find the face of God.

And so I consider those concepts this morning, knowing that if I had the possibility of teleportation I would be sitting at the ocean writing these words, as the ocean is always a place of peace and sanctuary for me. Absent that, however, I will sit on my mat and conjure the beauty of a deserted beach, attempt to feel the salty spray and dive into meditation, hoping for some moments of serenity in God’s presence.

Where will your pilgrimage take you today?