Journey on the Spiritual Path

This month marks my 34^th year of being on a spiritual path.  Even as I write this, I wonder what I could have been thinking when I got started.  This is a path that can be very rewarding but also one of the most difficult ways of being.

Why I thought that doing what I started doing was going to be easy is way “beyond” me now.  There is nothing easy about keeping your word, staying positive, being honest all the time, especially with yourself, always staying with the possible solutions, being “true” to yourself, encouraging other people and always giving something of value to all you meet.  And this is just the beginning list.  It goes on and on and on.

Being a follower of a non-traditional religion is even more challenging especially around the Christian holidays.  I love having a live Christmas tree up but I don’t believe that Christmas was the birth of Jesus.  Easter is even more of a challenge. 

I remember the last year of ministerial school, our assignment was to “mind map” the Easter sermon.  I figured there could not be that much difference between “Easter” years since the story is the same, so I did one of the sermons from previous years.  I then talked some of my classmates to join me in going to an amusement park for the day.  We had a grand time but every year thereafter, I wanted to skip out on Easter. 

Right now I seem to be on a path of ordinary.  It is very restful and it allows me to read, nap, craft my creativity in various avenues that truly feed my soul.  As I write this, my puppy is having a very vocal dream and his feet are moving as though he is running.  When truly busy, I never had the time to enjoy hearing puppy sounds or tuning into my own listening.  Now, I am able to tune into what is my next best thing to do.  It is truly a time for me to be grateful for my life – all of my life.