Pathways to God
Life is a journey of the soul in search of God. To guide us on this path the torch of faith has been lighted by God in the human mind. Bonaventure
Gregg’s Reflection
Before becoming a Christian in my late 20’s, I did a tour of world religions seeking a path to God. I found the Bible difficult to read and understand. I began to read the Koran, but got turned off when I learned that the Prophet Mohammed countenanced the idea of conversion by sword. That just seemed wrong.
I did cursory looks at the Eastern spirituality of Hinduism and Buddhism, but was not drawn. Then, I stumbled upon the Carlos Castenada’s book, The Teachings of Don Juan, exploring the spirituality of the indigenous people of the Desert Southwest and Mexico.
When I read this passage, I was immediately drawn. His subject, Don Juan told him this,
The path of knowledge is not easy. The path of the warrior is one of introspection and self-growth, but it is also one of learning what to value. The only path worth following is the path with a heart. It is the one that allows you to live fully. The others will lead to suffering and emptiness.
I knew the task before me, to find the Path with a Heart. Seeking God eventually led me to be baptized by a charismatic Lutheran Pastor, Vernon Luckey, and to commit to a spiritual journey, to find that Path.
The Charismatic Movement was flourishing when I was baptized. While I was never drawn to speaking in tongues, or the other ‘gifts of the Spirit,’ I was moved to meet people seeking a direct experience of Spirit and of God. The Spirit had touched me in our travels out West, when God revealed Godself in the mountains and canyons where I felt so small, and the forces of nature so powerful.
I had a much harder time experiencing Spirit in Lutheran Worship, where tradition had us listening to pipe organ renditions of songs that never resonated with my soul. I felt some sense of calling in my life, but my pastors never helped me see that I could live out my calling in my work.
So, about the time I was baptized, we had a vision to walk away from the business at age 45, to pursue something more meaningful. I spent a weekend each fall with a small group of Christian businessmen, exploring variations of the question: What will you do with the rest of your life. And, I kept searching for the path, not realizing I was already on it.
We sold the business and walked away when I was 48. We bought land in Colorado, and built our off grid log home. One day, standing on this mountain, God gave me my calling, to bring all I had learned of leadership in 25 years in the business and use it to equip a next generation of leaders for the Kingdom.
For the last 25 years, I have lived out that Path with a Heart, and it has been the most meaningful work of my life, walking the Path and living fully, as Don Juan promised. At the end of his life, St Francis told his followers, “I have done what was mine to do, now may God show you yours.”
Has God revealed what is yours to do? Come along as we explore Pathways to God, and lean into the Path with a Heart, that you might take up this warrior’s journey. Blessings.
Journaling Prompts
My Spiritual Director tells me that our calling is the intersection of our deepest desires and the world’s greatest need. Contemplate what might be your deepest desires, and the needs you are passionate about. Often, our deepest wounds become our deepest passions. How might that help you find the Path? Have you discerned your spiritual gifts? They are a great indicator of the direction of your Path. What is yours to do?
Scripture
What does your God require of you? Only to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul.
Deuteronomy 10:12
Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his presence continually. Remember the wonderful works he has done.
1 Chronicles 16:11-12
For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the entire earth, to strengthen those whose heart is true to him.
2 Chronicles 16:9
There are those who rebel against the light, who are not acquainted with its ways, and do not stay in its paths.
Job 23:13
He has showed you, O man, is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Micah 6:8
Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually.
Psalm 105:4
Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.
Psalm 119:105
Incline your ear and hear my words, and apply your mind to my teaching; for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, if all of them are ready on your lips, so that your trust may be in the Lord.
Proverbs 22:17-19
The Beatitudes: Blessed are the poor in Spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Lesser are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, or theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.
Matthew 5:3-11
You will know salvation through the mystery of forgiveness.
Luke 2:77
Rejoice always, praying without ceasing.
1 Thessalonians 5:16.
But, as for you, man of God, pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness.
1 Timothy 6:11
As for those who are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but rather in God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that is really life.
1 Timothy 6:17-19
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer.
1 Peter 3:12-13
Ancient Writings
Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become your character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.
Lao Tzu, Richard Rohr, A Spring Within, p. 282
The Logos of God has become human so that you might learn from a human being how a human being may become divine.
Clement of Alexandria
Listen, look, suffer and be still. Release yourself into the light. See with intellect. Learn with discretion. Suffer with joy. Rejoice with longing. Have desire with forbearance. Complain to no one. My child, be patient and release yourself,because no one can dig God out from the ground of your heart.
The Silent Outcry, anonymous 4th Century letter. McGinn, Essentials of Christian Mysticism p. 141
If the soul had known God as perfectly as do the angels, it would never have entered the body. And if the soul could have known God without the world, the world would never have been created.
The world was made for the soul's sake that the soul's eye might be practiced and strengthened to bear the divine light... The soul's eye could not bear this light unless it were steadied by matter, supported by likenesses, and so led up to the divine and accustomed to it.
Meister Eckhart
Seek grace not instruction, desire not understanding, seek the groaning of prayer over diligent reading, seek the spouse more than the teacher, seek God not man, darkness not clarity, not light but the fire itself.
Bonaventure, Cousins, The Soul’s Journey to God, p. 6,7
Life is a journey of the soul in search of God. To guide us on this path the torch of faith has been lighted by God in the human mind.
Bonaventure, The Mind’s Road to God, trans Father James, p. 3
The sail of the ship of man's being is belief. When there is a sail, the wind can carry him to place after place of power and wonder. No sail, all words are wind.
Jalal-ud-Din Rumi
When we are fallen because of frailty or blindness, then our gracious Lord inspires us, stirs and calls and then He wills that we see our wretchedness and humbly let it be acknowledged. But He does not wish us to remain thus, nor does He will that we busy ourselves greatly about accusing ourselves, nor does He will that we busy ourselves greatly about accusing ourselves, nor does He will that we be full of misery about ourselves; for He wills that we quickly attend to Him; for He stands all alone and waits for us constantly, sorrowing and mourning until we come, and hastens to take us to for Himself; for we are His joy and His delight, and He is our care and our cure and our life.
The Complete Julian of Norwich p. 357.
By contrition we are made pure, By compassion we are made ready,And by true yearning for God, we are made worthy. These are the three means by which all souls come to Heaven.
Julian of Norwich, Complete Julian, Fr John-Julian, p. 185
Prayer is a right understanding of that fullness of joy that is to come, along with a true yearning and certain trust. In prayer, the lacking of our bliss naturally makes us yearn; true understanding and love graciously makes us trust. And thus, by nature do we yearn, and by grace do we trust.
Julian of Norwich, Complete Julian, Fr John-Julian, p. 199
All this brought our Lord suddenly to my mind. He said, “I am the Ground of your praying. First, it is my will that you have something, and next I make you want it, and afterward I cause you to pray for it. If you pray for it, how then could it be that you wouldn’t get what you asked for?”
Julian of Norwich, Complete Julian, Fr John-Julian, p. 191
First there is the fall, and then we recover from the fall. And both are the mercy of God!
Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love, chapter 61. God hid holiness quite well: the proud will never recognize it, and the humble will fall into it every day not even realizing it is holiness. Richard Rohr, CAC Morning Devotion, 9/8/19
We should establish in ourselves a sense of God’s presence by continually conversing with Him. We ought to give ourselves up entirely to God. Resolve to make the love of God the end of your actions. In order to form a habit of conversing with God continually, we must apply to Him with some diligence. After a little care we should find His love inwardly excites us.
Lord, I cannot do this unless thou enable me. Speak to God frankly, simply, honestly. Implore his assistance in our affairs just as they happen. Acustom yourself to do everything for the love of God. Find pleasure in every condition by doing little things for the love of God.
Useless thoughts spoil all so return always to your communion with God. All effort must be toward the union with God by love. This is the shortest way to go straight to Him by a continual practice of love and doing all things for His sake. Our only business was to love and delight ourselves in God.
Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God
All interior paths lead to pure love as their end, and the highest of all degrees in the pilgrimage of this life is the habitual state of this love.
Françios Fénelon, Explication of the Maxims of the Saints, McGinn, Essential Writings of Christian Mysticism, p. 514
The enjoyment of God is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of earthly friends are but shadows, but enjoyment of God is the substance. These are but scattered beams, but God is the sun. These are but streams, but God is the fountain. These are but drops, but God is the ocean.
Jonathan Edwards
Once there was a certain young man known to God who while he was in youth's early flower began to get involved in worldly vanities. Dragged down by the world's passing delights, he wanted to wander away from the right road of salvation into the region of unlikeness.
But divine mercy took pity on him, enlightened him in an ineffable way, and through paths both pleasant and difficult drew him along and finally brought him back to the path of truth through his love for Divine Wisdom.
Henry Suso, The Essential Writings of Christian Mysticism p. 233
Delve deeply into the Jesus Prayer...It will draw you together, giving you a sense of strength in the Lord, and will result in your being with Him constantly whether alone or with other people, when you do work and when you read and pray.
St. Theophane the Recluse
How wonderful it is to walk with God along the road which holy men have trod.
Theodore Kitching, Celtic Daily Prayer, p. 449
Say not, “I have found the path of the soul,” say rather, “I have met the soul walking upon my path,” for the soul walks upon all paths.
Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet, p. 55
Modern Writings
And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.
T.S. Eliot
The path of knowledge is not easy. The path of the warrior is one of introspection and self-growth, but it is also one of learning what to value. The only path worth following is the path with a heart. It is the one that allows you to live fully. The others will lead to suffering and emptiness.
Don, Juan, Carlos Castaneda, The Teachings of Don Juan, A Yaqui Way of Knowledge. The only journeys worth pursuing are those that resonate deeply with one's inner self.
Archimedes said, “Give me a lever and a fulcrum and I will lift the world.” God has given his saints as fulcrum, himself alone; as lever, prayer which burns with the fire of love, and it is in this way that they have lifted the world.
St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Story of a Soul, p. 258
The goal of life is God! The source of life is God! That out of which life comes is that into which life goes. God out of whom life comes is God into whom life goes. God is the goal of man’s [woman’s] life, the end of all his [her] seeking, the meaning of all his [her] striving. God is the guarantor of all his [her] values, the ultimate meaning the timeless frame of reference.
Howard Thurman, Deep River, p. 77
For those who seek to grow spiritually, the goal is to learn the curriculum of a truly spiritual life, grounded in love, mercy, tenderness, compassion, forgiveness, hope, trust, simplicity, silence, peace and joy. To embody union with God is to discover these beautiful characteristics emerging from within and slowly transfiguring us into the very image and likeness of God himself.
Carl McColman, Christian Mystics, p. xix
The essence of prayer is to hear not only the voice of Christ, but the voice of each person I meet, in whom Christ also addresses me. His voice comes to me in every human face. Perfect prayer seeks this presence of Christ and recognizes it in every human face. The unique image of Christ is the icon, but every human face is an icon of Christ, discovered by a prayerful person.
Paul Evdokimov, the Struggle With God, P.177-178
Spiritual disciplines, both East and West, are based on the hypothesis that there is something that we can do to enter upon the journey to divine union once we have been touched by the realization that such a state exists.
Thomas Keating, Open Hearts Open Minds, p. 18
The spiritual journey is a process of dismantling the monumental illusion that God is distant or absent.
Thomas Keating, Fruits & Gifts of Spirit, p. 1
If you want to practice love, observe the opportunities that are right in front of your noses.
Thomas Keating, The Mystery of Christ
Hope starts the journey, faith sustains it. But it ends beyond both hope and faith.
Ram Dass, Kathleen Singh, The Grace in Dying, p. 215
In the heart of a disciple, there is a desire, and a settled intent. The disciple of Christ desires above all else to be like Him. The disciple is one who, intent on becoming Christ-like, and so dwelling in his ‘faith & practice,’ systematically and progressively rearranges his affairs to that end.
Dallas Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines
Clinging to what you know is the path to an unlived life. Cultivate a beginner’s mind, walk straight into your not-knowing.
Parker Palmer, On the Brink of Everything
Daily keep your death before your eyes. Saint Benedict. If you hold a healthy awareness of your own mortality, your eyes will be opened to the glory and grandeur of life.
Parker Palmer, On the Brink of Everything
The Path Home: Healing Dualisms
1st Dualism: First and primary separation by the developing psyche, between self and other. Creates experience of separation.
2nd Dualism: Distinction made in the developing mind between now and then; with it arises the sense of time and mortality, evolves into fear of death.
3rd Dualism: Boundary placed by the developing psyche between the body and the mind: child places the locus of identification in the mind.
4th Dualism: Strongly placed boundary between acceptable and unacceptable parts of the self; Jung defines it as between the persona and the shadow.
Kathleen Singh, Grace In Dying, Glossary
Lutheran pastor Johann Arndt is among the most influential Protestant mystics. In the generations after Luther’s death, many Reformed and Lutheran theologians adopted the methods of the scholastics in their disputes with Catholics and each other.
Arndt was in the opposing group, which argued that merely intellectual knowledge of Christ was not sufficient. Rather, loving desire for Christ and total conformity to his will were necessary for Christian perfection and union with God. “It is not enough to know God’s word; one must also practice it in a living, active manner. Many think theology is a mere science or rhetoric, whereas it is living experience and practice.”
Bernard McGinn, Essential Writings of Christian Mysticism, p. 277
So what does it really mean to follow Jesus? I believe we are invited to gaze upon the image of the crucified Jesus to soften our hearts toward all suffering, to help us see how we ourselves have been “bitten” by hatred and violence, and to know that God’s heart has always been softened toward us.
In turning our gaze to this divine truth, we gain compassion toward ourselves and all others who suffer. It largely happens on the psychic and unconscious level, but that is exactly where all of our hurts and our will to violence lie. A transformative religion must touch us at this primitive, brainstem level, or it is not transformative at all.
Richard Rohr, CAC Daily Devotion, 12/6/20
Prayer is not primarily saying words or thinking thoughts. It is, rather, a life stance. It’s a way of living in the Presence, living in awareness of the Presence, and even of enjoying the Presence. Fully contemplative people are more than aware of Divine Presence; they trust, allow, and delight in it. They “stand” on it!
Richard Rohr, Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer, p. 31
Immediate, unmediated contact with the moment is the clearest path to divine union; Naked, undefended, and nondual presence has the best chance of encountering the Divine Presence.
Richard Rohr, Naked Now, p. 105
God is the one who seduces me out of my unworthiness.
Richard Rohr, Yes, and, p. 99
If you want others to be more loving, choose to love first. If you want a reconciled outer world, reconcile your own inner world. If you are working for peace out there, create it inside as well. If you wish to find some outer stillness, find it within yourself. If you want to find God, then honor God within you and you will always see God far beyond you. For it is only God in you who knows where and how to look for God.
Richard Rohr's Naked Now (p. 160-162)
VIA POSITIVA: This is the path of wonder and awe. Or as Merton begins: “Our real journey in life is interior; it is a matter of growth, deepening.” Awe is an inner response, opening to the beauty and wonder of life and God.
VIA NEGATIVA: This is the path of letting go and letting be, of solitude and silence, but also of undergoing grief and sorrow; it's an ongoing act of radical trust in the Divine. Eckhart calls it “sinking eternally into the One," and Merton refers to it when he mentions "an ever greater surrender." The empty state is necessary as a prelude to birthing and creativity.
VIA CREATIVA: This is the path of celebration and creativity, of cocreating with the work of the Holy Spirit. Or as Merton says, it's "the creative action of love and grace in our hearts." The theology of creativity will necessarily be the theology of the Holy Spirit re-forming us in the likeness of Christ.
VIA TRANSFORMATIVA: This is the path of compassion and justice; it is the way of the prophet who calls us to action. The Holy Spirit moves us not just to contemplate Divine compassion, but to enact it in the world in order to help others. Merton voices this when he says, "Never was it more necessary for us to respond to that action."
Matthew Fox, A Way to God, p. 48-49, 82
The soul is where God works compassion, Meister Eckhart. We might turn this around to say we do not truly have a soul until we are instruments of divine compassion. Compassion is the fullness of being human. It is proof we have a soul.
Matthew Fox, Christian Mystics, p. 142
In Bonaventure’s view only one who is on a journey to God can really know God; faith seeks understanding through the path of love.
Ilia Delio, Christ in Evolution, p. 11
In prayer we eventually come face-to-face with the fundamental question of life. How can we find him who fills all things yet evades our grasp? How can we find our way to God?
James Finley, Merton’s Palace of Nowhere, p. xvii
Soul is the supreme fruit of our earthly sojourn, forged in the refiner’s fire of our conscious labor and intentional suffering.
Cynthia Bourgeault, Eye of the Heart, p. 58
The Seven Homecomings
The Seven Homecomings, a practice taught by Tibetan Buddhist Lama Rod Owens, invite us to recognize and honor our own personal “circle of care.” These instructions are just a template; let this practice change to meet your needs. Pause briefly between each section.
Begin contemplating the first homecoming of the guide. Reflect on any being who has been a guide, a teacher, a mentor, an adviser, or an elder for you. Reflect on the beings in your life whom you’ve gone to for guidance and support. . . . Invite them to gather around you in a circle and say welcome. Relax. Inhale. Exhale and come home to being held by your guides.
The second homecoming is your wisdom texts. Reflect on any text that has helped you to deepen your wisdom. These texts can include any writing, books, teachings, sacred scriptures . . . that have helped you to experience clarity, openness, love, and compassion. . . . Say welcome to your texts. Relax. Inhale. Exhale and come home to being held by your wisdom texts.
The third homecoming is community. Begin by reflecting about the communities, groups, and spaces where you experience love or the feeling of being accepted and supported in being happy. . . . Where do you feel safe to love? Where are you being loved? . . . Say welcome to your communities. Relax. Inhale. Exhale and come home to being held by your communities.
The fourth homecoming is your ancestors. Begin by reflecting on those ancestors who have wanted the best for you, including wanting you to be happy and safe. You don’t need to know who those ancestors are. . . . Also reflect on the lineages you feel connected to, like the lineage of your spiritual tradition, or tradition of art or activism. . . . As you invite your ancestors, remember that you too are in the process of becoming an ancestor. . . . Say welcome to your ancestors and lineages. Relax. Inhale. Exhale and come home to being held by your ancestors and lineages.
The fifth homecoming is the earth. Begin by reflecting on . . . how [the earth] sustains your life and the lives of countless beings. . . . Coming home to the earth means touching the earth, acknowledging the earth . . . and allowing it to hold you and, as it holds you, understanding that it is loving you as well. . . . Say welcome to the earth. Relax. Inhale. Exhale and come home to being held by the earth.
The sixth homecoming is silence. Begin by reflecting on the generosity of silence as something that helps you to have the space to be with yourself. . . Reflect on how you can embrace silence as a friend and/or lover invested in your health and well-being. . . . Say welcome to the silence. Relax. Inhale. Exhale and come home to being held by the silence.
Finally, the seventh homecoming is yourself. Begin by reflecting on your experiences of your mind and body. Consider how your experiences are valuable, important, and crucial. Invite all the parts of yourself into your awareness, including the parts of yourself that seem too ugly or overwhelming. . . . Say welcome to yourself. Relax. Inhale. Exhale and come home to yourself.
Now imagine that your circle of benefactors begins to dissolve into white light, and gather that white light into your heart center. Rest your mind and relax.
CAC Morning Devotion, 3/13/21
Our human life is a journey home. We come from God and it is to God that we will one day return. To be a pilgrim is to walk gently on the earth. It is to carry with you only what you need. A pilgrim is a guest in a sacred place. We visit here, leave nothing but prayers and works of kindness and take nothing with us except what has touched our hearts. This road of life which leads us home to God is a lovely journey. It is a scenic tour. It is also a great trial. This road has thieves and murderers and there are days when the sun never shines and you sleep in the rain and walk in the mud.
Justin Coutts, In Search of a New Eden, 8/22/21
If God’s Spirit has truly joined our spirit, then we have every reason to trust the deepest movements of our natures. This trust becomes a key for all spirituality. The goal of Christian spirituality is to recognize and respond to the continual interior movements of the Spirit, for the Spirit will always lead us toward greater union with Christ and greater love and service of God and others.
Richard Hauser
Self-denial of which Jesus spoke is borne of love, love of God, love of others, and love, in the healthiest sense, of self. It is saying no to needing our own way (now!) to saying yes to God’s way and the interests of others. The fruit is life and peace.
Renovare Weekly Digest 2 /3-7
