The First Step
“The heroic first step of the journey is out of, or over the edge of, your boundaries, and it often must be taken before you know that you will be supported. The hero’s journey has been compared to a birth; it starts out warm and snug in a safe place; then comes a signal, growing more insistent, that it is time to leave. To stay beyond your time is to putrefy. Without the blood and searing and pain, there is no new life.”—Diane Osbon in A Joseph Campbell Companion (N. Y.: HarperCollins, 1995).
Fork in the Road
People sometimes come for spiritual direction, as they take that first step to becoming the person God created them to be. It is a fork in the road, and always they are on the road less traveled. Sometimes the path is so undeveloped or uncared for that it is overgrown. Someone who has traveled that way before can only see a recognizable path. Therefore, we look for and need spiritual friends along the way.
Sometimes it may be necessary for someone to hold our hand just to get us started. Other times, we see the way after just minimum help. Sometimes we need a companion for a greater distance until we become familiar with the path and adjust to its twists and turns. The journey and the first step is a birth offering a multitude of opportunities for rebirth. We can always count on labor pains and a messy experience before hearing our new voice. Friends and family may have difficulty accepting our change, our new birth, and the unique path we are now on.
Treasuring the journey instead of focusing on a goal can always keep us from wandering off the path.
Thank you for supporting our camp and conference center, Camp Mitchell, on top of Petit Jean Mountain, by buying this book in the daily series of writings for the liturgical year, A Daily Spiritual Rx for Ordinary Time: Readings from Pentecost to Advent. All proceeds from the books go to Camp Mitchell. If you like this book, could you take a brief moment to write a recommendation on its page on Amazon? https://smile.amazon.com/Daily-Spiritual-Ordinary-Time-Pentecost/dp/B08JLTZYGH/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=joanna+seibert+books&qid=1621104335&sr=8-1
More thank-you’s than we can say!!!
