What does it mean to be a people of… JOURNEY?

Reflections on Journey:

Not all those who wander are lost. J. R. Tolkien

The desert journey isn’t about embarking on a long and arduous struggle to find God at the end of the road. Desert spirituality is about looking for God right in the very midst of wrestling with ourselves. Christine Valters Paintner

If you can see your path laid out in front of you step by step, you know it’s not your path. Your own path you make with every step you take. That’s why it’s your path. Joseph Campbell

Focus: 

The practice of pilgrimage, courageous growth and patient change

Spiritual Practice:

Your Journey in Six Words

Larry Smith is passionate about helping people share their life journeys. He created a website with numerous tools and prompts to make sharing easier. One prompt turned out to be everyone’s favorite: Pair down your life journey to six words. It was inspired by Ernest Hemingway taking up a bar bet to write a novel in 6 words.

Hemingway’s response: “For Sale: Baby shoes, never worn.” Besides making the telling of your journey easier, this six-word challenge helps people focus on, celebrate and hold on to the essance of their stories.

So, this month, take up the challenge for yourself. Below are some example six-word journeys and online resources to help you on your way.

Example Six-Word Journeys

Married by Elvis; divorced by Friday

Down for maintenance, be back soon.

Sixty. Single. Rich. Call me collect.

Mom was “earthy”; Now I’m “green.”

Son’s autism broke and rebuilt me.

Sixty. Still afraid of the dark.

Life’s GPS keeps saying, recalculating… recalculating.

Obama did, now so can I

The exits were entrances in disguise.

  • The Story of the Six-Word Project: Why it worked and why it matters

 Taking It Home:  Ideas for All Ages

My Spiritual Journey

Draw a map of your spiritual journey.

Your spiritual journey began with your birth, and it leads to now.

Draw the high peaks, the low valleys, the plateaus where your life seemed to coast along, the deserts, the wilderness, or the oases.

You can show the twists and turns, the detours, the places where you were lost, the smooth pathways, the wandering road, the straight path, the renewing well springs. There may have been super-highways, bustling cities, rivers you had to cross. You may need to indicate road blocks, helpful signs, or stepping stones.

On your map, you can name mountains, valleys, or any locations or passages for the experiences you were having when you passed that way.

Musical connections:

Wayfaring Stranger Rhiannon Giddens
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1Z4PAZX9Bs

Join us to deepen our faith together:

  • Explore resources related to the monthly theme (links above)
  • Attend Sunday worship
  • Sign up for small group ministry (Soul Matters Sharing Circles and Chalice Circles)
  • Request a copy of Soulful Home (thematic resources for families)
  • Join our Parent Group (to discuss the themes in relation to parenting)

Resources on this page adapted from Soul Matters  August 2020.

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