When I find a phrase or sentence in a book that arrests my
attention, I feel like I just found a diamond.
Of course, it is not materially valuable, but a great phrase or sentence
adds value to my life and the way I understand life. In fact, I wish I had started collecting
these “diamonds” early in my life---maybe from college to today. I wonder how many of these I would have in my
treasury?
I am sure if I were to cull the various things I have
written, I would have a minimal list of these phrases and sentences. They would fill many pages in a notebook and
would be a wonderful reservoir of inspiring thoughts. Even though I don’t have that notebook, I
still go in search of the phrase or sentence that stops me in my tracks and
lets me exclaim, “Yes!”
I found one of these sentences recently when I was
re-reading Thich Nhat Hanh’s little book, Going
Home. I have read this book more
than once. I have used it in some
classes. Although I am not Buddhist like
Hanh, nevertheless I very much resonate with his sense of life and how to make
life meaningful and purposeful. This
quotation is not Buddhist-specific.
Maybe that is part of its value to me.
Hanh says, “True faith comes from how the path you are
taking can bring you into life and love and happiness everyday.” I realize this sentence has to do with true
faith. However, that part does not
interest me very much. I was much more
captivated by the notion of our “path.”
I know that “path” is a timeworn image for our lives. Along with other favorite images, like
pilgrimage, journey and others, the image of a path does a good job of
portraying how our lives go from point A (birth) to point Z (death).
Of course, a path is meant to be walked. We can say that we walk our path day by
day. There is directionality to a path;
it goes somewhere. At my age I confess I
am pretty well along on my path. That
equates path quantitatively to specific number of years. But a path can be qualitative, too. Qualitatively or spiritually, I might be an
old guy, but still early on my path. I
can be old in years and young in spiritual development. Seen this way, I have a long ways to travel
on my path.
As we said, a path has a destination; it is meant to get you
somewhere. I like the way the Hanh
quotation articulates the destination.
He uses three words to describe it: life, love and happiness. I would be delighted to have my path take me
to these three goals. I would be
thrilled to find a path that enables me to live---really live---instead of
merely existing. I want a path that
takes me to love and, hopefully, to a deep love. I want to love life, love others, love my
enemies and love the natural world, which is the mother of us all. And finally, I would very much desire to be
happy. Most sane people would opt for
happiness, as opposed to sadness, disappointment or sorrow.
So I resonate with Hanh’s goals for a path. The question he poses is whether how my path
can bring me to these three goals.
Perhaps, the prior question is whether my path can deliver me to these
three. Only if it can deliver me, can we
ask how. Of course, we know there are
many paths that our lives take. I am
sure not all of those paths take us to life, love and happiness.
Many years ago, I chose a path that is spiritual. It would take a book to describe the detail
of what that choice means. Succinctly,
it means choosing a path that would be different than, say, a material
path. A material path might focus on
getting rich with the hope that money would ensure life, love and happiness. In the short run, money might just do
that. But in the long run, I doubt
it. That is why I cast my lot with the
spiritual path.
My spiritual path includes a role for God. In fact, I feel like God is a fellow traveler
with me on the path. Often that fellow
traveler is a Spirit who offers inspiration and leadership. I like to think God has desires for
me---perhaps directional desires. I
sense the Spirit drawing me in the direction of life---a fuller, richer
life. I sense the Spirit luring me in the
direction of love---a deeper, satisfying love that is satisfying to every
aspect of my soul. And I sense the
Spirit opening me into a happiness that passes all understanding.
The happiness I find in the Spirit is not some giddy
hilarity I have experienced with girlfriends when I was a teenager or other
occasions. These are nice, but they are
more temporary experiences of happiness.
The happiness of the spiritual path is a happiness that endures. The spiritual happiness is more like
well-being. There is a satisfaction with
life in this happiness: that I am ok, that grace abounds and that, as Richard
Rohr put it in a book title, everything belongs---me included. That is the goal of my path.
Comments
Post a Comment