Lost

Today, I listened to the podcast of "Sacred Wilderness" on Krista Tippett's Speaking of Faith.  The interview was fascinating, especially since I had recently been pondering the spiritual meaning of wilderness.  (Though there are many more thoughts to have on that subject, especially from a pagan perspective.)

One phrase just zapped me: "having faith in being lost." 

In the last year, I have struggled with trying to find my career path. Just yesterday, a friend of mine was describing her feelings of being aimless amidst a welter of interests.

Both of us have made a pact to be Shiva Nata buddies, and the whole point of the practice is to get seriously lost. By regularly pushing yourself beyond your normal body-mind comfort zone, you blaze new neural connections - then you start seeing and thinking things differently. 

So now, on a daily basis, lost is what I seek out, just as a journey through the wilds is what our souls sometimes need in order to find the paths ahead.

Whether I am lost because I am surrounded by darkness with no discernible path or lost because there are a dozen paths going before me in every direction, I need to rest on this deeply comforting idea of "having faith in being lost."

Revelation

There is a whole world of religious podcasts that I never knew existed - on iTunes! This is huge for me - what a breakthrough!

I can listen to whole services from the comfort of my commute. It doesn't remove me from my family on the weekends. Yet I can still explore the world of religion, safely sample different religious traditions. I've downloaded a raft of Pagan, Unitarian, Episcopal, Jewish and Quaker podcasts, and I hope to be discussing them here.

Today, I listened to the "Alone in the Wilderness" service from St. Augustine's Episcopal Chapel at Vanderbilt University, with a sermon by my new virtual minister, Becca Stevens. It was lovely, with heart-stirring music performed on the acoustic guitar. I wonder if those hippies who wrote "Time to Every Season" and "Come Together" ever imagined their songs would be used in church.

Stevens' sermon about the need for journeying into the wilderness was inspiring, thought-provoking and accessible.  She describes how each person has their own personal vision of wilderness. Mine looks like this: