return

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Originally published in the South Jetty
I began April with a trip to California to lead an Inner Journey Retreat at an Episcopal retreat center called the Bishop's Ranch. It was my third visit there. Each year there is a different theme, and this year's theme was exploring our spiritual journey (or individuation) through several particular phases of that journey: the Call, the Covenant, the Sacrifice, and the Return. As the other teachers and I worked to provide the content and to create a safe space for participants to explore their life and spiritual journey, we experienced each phase by getting in touch with the deep meaningful parts of our journeys. I don't have space to get into the details of each phase, but I do want to share my experience of the Return.
The Inner Journey Community has become very important to me in my own growth and learning, and I have an affinity for that gathered community. We come from all across the country, so this temporary village that we created for a week doesn't really exist, it's just an ephemeral community. It is there for a time, then it goes away. We stay connected between the retreats, but we're only together for those short weeks. 
Perhaps because of the theme this time, or perhaps because I've lived in Port Aransas a little longer now, when the retreat was complete, instead of feeling like I was leaving something, I really felt like I was ready to get back to something. I was ready for the Return. 

A reality of the Return is that we cannot actually return to the same place. The place will be changed in some way, and we ourselves will be changed in some way. Another feature of the Return is that we are to find ways to share what we've learned. We have to give back in some way. This article is the beginning of that giving back. Just to share with you that I've been on this journey, and to point toward how meaningful that experience was to me. The rest of the giving back will come in the next months and years as I continue to follow my call to be whom God has made me to be, and as I continue to share my journey in this community. 
That's about as many times as I can stand to type the words "community" and "journey" without going too crazy. Yet, at the risk of wearing them out, I will use them again because they are that important; to have a community to support us on our journey is essential to being human. I feel wholly connected to this community, here in Port Aransas. I feel connected to this place and people, although I've only been here a relatively short time. I am grateful to be with you on this journey, and I feel so fortunate that this is the place to which I Return. 

Comments

  1. SaschaApril 21, 2016 at 3:18 PM

    Well said James! I am honored to be part of this community on the journey with you and so many other wonderful humans.

    ReplyDelete

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