Getting Lost

I went to the park with a couple of friends to walk the paths through the woods. We got lost. (It was the MetroParks, so we weren’t in any real danger.) We ended up walking a lot farther and longer than we intended. 

On the way home we talked about other times we have been lost. I realized that I have really never been lost and it made me sad. I don’t take a lot of chances. I tend to stay on the path. I tend to follow the rules.

Even in my spiritual life.

Most spiritual traditions have rules, ways to keep us in line with the goals. Prayer, meditation, affirmations, worship, rituals. All of these practices are meant to keep us on the path and hopefully, move us towards spiritual truths, towards greater understanding.

I needed this guidance. I needed rules. I needed to be led.

All of it was helpful. But there comes a time when we need to let go of the rituals. A time when they seem to hinder rather than help. When they keep us from growing, expanding.

Like walking in the woods. If I only follow the marked path, the map, I will see and do what everyone else sees and does. And that’s fine. 

But what if I want to see more? What if I want to explore and come upon treasures that others haven’t found? What if I want to experience things few have experienced?

In order to do that, I need to get off the marked path. I need to go beyond the rituals, the rules. 

What does this mean in a spiritual sense? It means that the rules and rituals can only take me so far in my understanding. They are trail markers, they are arrows that point me in the direction. But they cannot give me the understanding. The knowing. 

This I must discover on my own.

I need to get off the path in order to find my treasure, to reach the understanding I crave. 

I need to get lost.