There is a road inside of you…

Inside of me there is one, too.

No stumbling pilgrim in the dark.

The road to Zion’s in your heart.

So, says the lyricist of this great song.

Fall is coming.

Yes, I know, it’s supposed to be winter is coming.

But fall comes before winter!  Anyway. Fall is my favorite time of year. It’s an introspective time of year for me as well and it seems I have started early.

I started taking the long way home.

It’s not that much longer, five minutes maybe. But it helps me. I have a forty-minute commute and the long way is a small country road with lots of trees. The time is mine. I turn on some music, something that helps to takes me to that place. (You can find some of my favorite songs here.) And then I just take it all in, and sometimes, when all things merge, I find it. When is the last time that any of us have taken some time to find that meditative place? You know, when you spend some time inside your own head. Most of us get up in the morning, get ready for work and choke down some breakfast on the way in. We put in eight hours or more and then zip home, take care of kids, or whatever might be going on, then you go to bed, wake up and do it all over again.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

I mean, that’s life, right? I’m sorry but that’s not good enough for me anymore. There must be this place, a sanctuary, if you will, that we can retreat into and regain our strength. Your job might be physically demanding, or might be mentally draining, it might be both. So, where is this place? Where is our retreat, a place of peace?

I believe that many sources have been trying to tell us for a long time, but I don’t know if we’ve had the ears to hear.

“Neither shall they say, see here! or, see there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.”

— Jesus

“We’re so engaged in doing things to achieve purposes of outer value that we forget the inner value, the rapture that is associated with being alive, is what it is all about.”

― Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth

The rapture of being alive

I believe both men said the same thing. I really like what Campbell said. “The rapture that is associated with being alive.” I believe that is what finding that meditative place can bring you. When you spend time inside yourself. Let go of all that surrounds you of the outer stuff. Let it fall away. Find that joy in taking a breath and being alive.

Norman Maclean found it fly fishing.

But when I am alone in the half-light of the canyon, all existence seems to fade to a being with my soul and memories and the sounds of the Big Blackfoot River and a four-count rhythm and the hope that a fish will rise. Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. 

It is one of my favorite movies and you can find the full quote here.

Look around you

How many people do you know, or know of, that take anti-depressants? I mean it seems as if the whole world is taking some kind of drugs, legal or illegal, just trying to cope. I believe that finding the rapture that comes from being alive would help a lot of this. Being thankful would as well, it’s hard to be depressed when you are thankful for all you have.

We have it so good

If you woke up this morning in the USA, you have it so good. Seriously. Did you wake up to your own place to live, in your own bed, with your own car outside, a job to go to and food in the pantry? See, we have time to find that rapture of being alive more than anyone else.

Practice makes perfect

It may not happen immediately, but I believe that the more time we spend inside ourselves, the easier it will be to find that rapture of being alive. I challenge you, this week, find some time and spend it with yourself, and get inside your own head for a while and see what happens. Let me know what happens, I want to hear.

Be blessed all.

Michael Wigington

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