This quarter is tricky. The focus is “Arrive.” Do we know when we arrive? How can we be sure? Maybe we can’t be sure. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “To finish the moment, to find the journey’s end in every step of the road, to live the greatest number of good hours, is wisdom.” So many quotes I found talked about enjoying the journey, stopping and “smelling the roses”. They stress that the arrival doesn’t matter. Well, don’t tell a pregnant mother the arrival doesn’t matter. You can’t stand at an airport without seeing the word ARRIVALS everywhere. I think arrivals have an important place in a journey. What does arrive mean to you? Does it feel like the end of your journey or just a stop on the way? I think I am still figuring it out, to be honest.
I do love this piece about walking a labyrinth that was written by Rebecca Solnit.
“That (labyrinth)…became a world whose rules I lived by, and I understood the moral of mazes: sometimes you have to turn your back on your goal to get there, sometimes you’re farthest away when you’re closest, sometimes the only way is the long one. After that careful walking and looking down, the stillness was deeply moving…It was breathtaking to realize that in the labyrinth, metaphors and meanings could be conveyed spatially. That when you seem farthest from your destination is when you suddenly arrive is a very pat truth in words, but a profound one to find with your feet.”
Rebecca Solnit
Global Healing Quarterly Intention
2023 Theme: Journey
Journey: An act of traveling from one place to another.
—Oxford Languages
July-August-September
Focus: Arrive
Quote: To finish the moment, to find the journey’s end in every step of the road, to live the greatest number of good hours, is wisdom. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Picture/Symbol: The labyrinth’s center
Prayer/Meditation:
If we journey, we will arrive.
And when we search we will find.
Every step moves us forward
Toward a place where we can breath.
Every thought brings clarity
To see our resting place.
Every intention drives us
To our destination.
Whether our journey is inside or out,
Our heart knows the way.
Ideas for benefiting organization:
Do you have an organization in your community that welcomes refugees when they arrive in your land?
Ideas for ambiance:
How about some treats and snacks to welcome the pilgrims to their arrival. Ask attendees to describe the feeling of arrival. Maybe write it down before and after they walk.
Music:
Spiritual Journey | Deep Transformative & Healing 111 Hz Divine Frequency Meditation Music
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOIR28NTHp4)
A PDF version of this post can be found by clicking here.
