Three Variables Inherent in the Journey - Paragraph 1
Roberts now moves from the subsection titled The Nature of Spiritual Development into what she calls the Three Variables Inherent in the Journey. Let’s take a look at the text:
Three Variables Inherent in the Journey
“The journey is made complex by the interaction of three variables. The first is God’s different revelations; the second is the ever-changing human recipient and variety of his experiences; the third is the movement of the path with its stages and major turning points. The interaction of these variables does not permit us to attach a specific time-line or chronological age to the journey. Despite this complexity, however, I intend to adhere to the journey’s sequential nature.”
What a wonderful acknowledgement by Roberts that “the interaction of these variables” unfold us. What I really like about these interactive variables is that while the journey is singular in nature, I can only make one journey through life, there are variables in my life that may be more active at one point in time than another. For instance, I may have a very impactful experience, say a trauma of some sort or the joy of witnessing birth, and this experience may unexplainably reveal an aspect of God (Mystery) to me that I had not considered before. The reverse may also be true, I may come upon a revelation of God, but it will take a lifetime of experience, given my ever-changing self, to integrate and understand that revelation.
She also states that another variable is “movement of the path with its stages and major turning points.” If I understand Roberts correctly she is saying that the path has a movement, one that is identifiable if you know what to look for, one that allows for the maturation of the human being. This variable then, of a staged path, will naturally interact with the other variables. The difficulty is that while the path wishes to move us forward, difficult or unforeseen circumstances may inhibit the movement, it may be delayed or aborted. For instance, if one has suffered physical or sexual abuse there may be a breach of trust in life. This breach may overshadow any revelation that appears to the recipient.
This leads us to Roberts last point that no “specific time-line or chronological age to the journey” exists. Sometimes it helps me to think of this human unfolding less as a journey, as in we do not need to get somewhere, and more of a process. When a seed falls to the ground there is a process, a “sequential nature”, to the growth of that seed. The needs of the seed determine the growth and we know the timeline may be delayed or even aborted if those needs are not met. If there is no sunlight or rain growth stops. Likewise, if there is a thick overgrowth of weeds or no nutrients in the soil growth slows.
I understand Roberts to be asking me to be patient with this idea of growth. Another way I might state this is I must be patient with the variables. Yes, I can work on my issues and commit to those practices that align me to growth, but I can’t reach the “stages and major turning points” just because I want to. The seed, like my soul, wants to grow, it is encoded into its DNA, but if circumstances are deficient growth won’t happen. My faith upbringing often signaled that all that was needed for growth was prayer. My real sense of the situation is that it takes much more than “prayer” to grow, it requires some honest work on my part to understand where in me the hinderances to growth reside. As aside, if we want to call that prayer than I’m on board with that definition. That is why I must cultivate my garden, be watchful, weed and feed where necessary. Above all I must be patient.
The inability I sense in me to be patient tells me I believe there is somewhere to be except right here and at the end of the day I believe that is the invitation for me, to just be where I am. It sounds so simple, I mean I can't really be anywhere else, yet my thoughts often go to the future or the past; anywhere but right here. So, I light my candle, do my sit, and just allow the life that is here to inform and unfold me. Can I trust that all that is needed for growth is present, that the correct variables are interacting? Can I be grateful for the simplicity of the moment and the gentleness of the unfolding? It is a work in progress, but for today I will simply breathe and allow.
