Saturday, October 18, 2008

Dear God,

I wander in the minds of saints and mystics. Their quest for a higher consciousness of faith teaches me to acknowledge, accept and participate in my own personal spiritual pilgrimage. I leave no day behind in my thirst for you.

I learn day by day the need for greater trust in you. Whether my day is filled with celebration and growth or disappointment and sorrow, my trust for you is the same. I can effect change in my life but how much more do I grow when I purposefully link myself with you. My daily journey includes you, like the air I breathe.

In the book I am reading, The Desert Pilgrim, I find a kinship to Mary searching for faith and healing. I travel with her in her own quest for change and transformation. I have been where she was, looking for a new spiritual home. At each moment of her healing I realize your creative generosity. I see the way you work, the people you work through. I witness a gentle, tender power that desires a healing for the whole world.

I find there are people whose longing for God has lead them to gifts of the Spirit. I see the ways in which humble people become pathways to healing, love, joy and peace. I understand their challenges, their questions to fellow pilgrims and I witness how they are agents for healing. I am drawn to read about such people because I see in them the spirit of the saints and mystics. I see a thread connecting them with modern society. I recognize the beautiful way this same spirit has been present throughout all of time, at least in the last several hundred years. I am warmed, knowing your presence through them.

On my journey toward wholeness and fullness with you, these stops along the way teach me. I carry my writing pad with me, jotting down my learnings. Like a sojourner, I carry little with me, a journeyer's robe and a backpack filled with trust and faith. I travel barefoot realizing that every ground is holy ground, no matter what. Any place, any spot on earth can be a site of the sacred. What doubt I carry I give to you again and again. I test my doubt in your light and I learn more about faith and trust.

I like where I am, always on a quest to you.

Oh my God,
you lead me
to pastures
of green
where new life
is always beginning.
I find friends
along the way,
friends who
lead me
to you.
Terese, Francis, Hildegarde,
mystics and saints alike,
modern and ancient,
who model
a pilgrim's heart
and search
for greater meaning.
I am
on this road
with them.
My joy
is full.

Love, Andrea