” ….thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.” (Psalm 23)
There seems to be a common thread being woven through my pilgrimage: surrender. The word I would add today to that core reacquaintance with “the place of my resurrection” would be abundance. My cup runneth over today. Joy and light and love and hope spilled out from my soul, which had been filled to the brim and then some in the beauty and truth of God and humankind in the lost city of Petra. Words and photos cannot do justice to this magnificent expression and revelation of God.
Yesterday, I took 50 photos of dirt, today I took 50 photos of rocks!
Because with each turn inward into the city, another site was revealed that was heart-stopping and soul-lifting. What Mother Betsy and I noticed, as we were coming toward the exit of the city was that the journey in and out was actually a pilgrimage, that the path so clearly could represent one’s spiritual journey. As we traveled into the center, the landscape changed. At first we were “wowed” with the smooth, slightly shaded rocks, but only to find, as we went deeper, the landscape became more complex, more intricate, and revealed a greater beauty.
As we went deep into the city and climbed to the top of the cavern, and had our “mountain top experience”, we knew that the sights on the way out, which presumably we had seen on the way in, would look different, more alive, brighter, and more inviting. And they did. There were times we went through the dark and narrow corridors, only to find a crevice of light beckoning us forward. So it seems to be when we are in the embrace of God. The truth is that we can stop our spiritual journey anywhere along the way: just peering in at the beauty, stopping at the first moment we experience a “wow” with God, refusing to enter the dark narrow corridor, afraid there is not light beyond, or we can embrace every turn, knowing God is beckoning us further, and trust that “surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our life; and we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Today taught me to never fear to give it all to God, for what is received from the place of surrender is the light of the world.
