This week, I went on a journey into the unknown…
… Luckily my companions had a map that clearly showed our path and the obstacles, joys and risks that we might encounter on the adventure. We were well prepared and despite the dangers along the path we travelled fearlessly. En route we encountered a meadow of 100 rabbits, a mound where a bush turkey lived and dark misty mountains, thick with bracken, (where one could get lost if you were not alert). We crept past a bear’s cave and stealthily navigated around an eagle’s nest and a poisonous snake with ten heads to finally arrive at our goal - a box of precious stones glinting in the sunlight. We had walked through light and dark, through pitch-black caves and over snowcapped mountain peaks, in and out of rooms, along the top of fences and up and down stairways that stretched to the stars (or so it seemed), to find those precious jewels. And despite our hardships, no sooner had we finished one expedition we were ready and willing to embark on another. Let me explain - my grandchildren created the detailed map (see above) and together we embarked on this quest throughout their house; stopping at various points to pick up toy rabbits, stuffed bears and climb on beds and under blankets.
These expeditions had me thinking about other journeys we take despite the risks, sorrow or challenges. How sometimes we don’t even have a clear map to follow yet courageously we set out. I recall the words by Sarah Williams in her poem ‘The Old Astronomer to His Pupil’ - “I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.” These words are beautifully reflected upon also this month by Jane Gardner in The Daily Bread 20th Feb 2024. I think of this adventure called life, that is full of light and darkness, illumination and shadow, beauty and pain and I think about how precious stones are formed, in the dark, deep in the earth - hot fluids and gases solidifying under pressure.
In our modern world, where things happen instantly, most times we want to walk the easy breezy life. We forget how we also are forged in the dark and that God is there with us - there in the darkness, not to teach us lessons, but through it all and in it all. And the darkness we often fear, is itself a place of transition, transformation, healing and growth.
Apostle Paul said in Philippians 4:11-13 - I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
For Carl Jung, the Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, the soul carries creativity and grants meaning; it links us to the divine and represents all we could be if wholeness were possible. The lesson for us all is about our willingness to stay awake and aware of the Divine through all of life’s journey and to move out through the world from this place of connection. Life is both an inward and outward journey. Inwardly we are pulled to the source of our being, that is deep, good and full of LOVE. Outwardly we move from this place with the Holy Spirit in ever broadening circles of care and concern, pursuing peace and reflecting the mission of Christ. We are all on this journey together.
So Give Me Your Hand
(a translation of words by Rainer Maria Rilke)
The one who makes us,
whispers to us in our making
and then silently walks us out of the night
and we can only faintly hear these words:
You, who were sent out before your recollection,
I’m sending you now to the very limits of your passion,
and there you will embody me.
Like the flames of a fire that casts long shadows
in which I might move.
Let everything happen to you: tragedy and triumph.
Yet these are still not the end.
Keep going but do not let yourself lose me
because nearby is the land called life
and you will know it by its weight.
So give me your hand.
Warmly
Anne Bonnefin
Communications Co ordinator
Community of Christ Australia