When walking a sacred path one is often (if not always) asked to walk on faith. Which is problematic for most people because we’re not brought up to nor are we (Darwinian) designed to, walk on the invisible that is. For example, one of our greatest assets is the ability to learn. Learning is useful because it allows us to move on to the next thing. Imagine if you only had a 1 hour memory (read stuff by Oliver Sacks) just imagine that and you will realise how crucial memory is.
From a faith point of view though and indeed, by extension, a Sacred life journey, learning experiences go out of the window. Following a sacred path implies a more indirect, intuitive, faithful journey. You walk it, not with the knowledge that you will get somewhere (because you got there yesterday) but with the faith that you will.
The title of this post is both accurate and misleading. The context is this. If I have faith in the universe then why should I test it? I agree with you, you shouldn’t test it. But there is an implied assumption within this statement that have caused me (and I suspect an enormity of others) to come a cropper. That assumption is this…that I have read the universes signs right.
As you may have recalled from a previous post. I have been tasked not so much with learning patience but with learning to read the signs that the universe provides accurately. To do this, I was told, that I needed to learn patience.
Last night I was driving home from one place to another and decided to follow a sign…now this was a bit of a test for me because it was 2am in the morning and the drive was going to take me about three hours out of my way. But I was semi fresh from an influx of coffee. My destination was a place of great wisdom and one that you must now be very familiar with. Ye Ancient Yew. That 4,500-year-old gatherer of wisdom. I felt the need to sit beneath its eaves and contemplate the journey.
Classic FM was my companion on this journey and as I passed some potential turning points, a voice in my mind asked, “what the * are you doing?” to which my response was…”why do you still think that this isn’t a normal activity for me?”
I arrived at the always-open gates of the churchyard and after paying my respects and doing some preparation work, sat beneath the tree and looked up and the semi-clear skies. “Why am I here?”
I wasn’t asking the universal troubling question. It was in fact quite a literal one. Why was I here at half-past three in the morning? I sat there with this question in my mind. Would I get an interesting answer?
It was then that the thoughts that I started this post with, came upon me. Trusting the universe, Having faith in the journey and the signs that are directing you. Having a conversation with the Yew is something I still have difficulty in describing. However, as my thoughts wandered down a directed path. The Yew led me to a question. Do you trust in your ability to read the signs correctly?
Although I have considered this question many times, almost equal to the number of times that I have seen a sign. But I have never pondered it with a wise being like this night (er morning). Doubt, it was something that sat beneath the veneer and confidence that I reflected externally. Wow, I bet this Yew could give Freud and Jung a good run for there psychoanalytic money.
I rooted around in my subconscious and found the leavings of doubt there. They were in the basement of my beliefs and so rarely manifested on the surface and when they did they were disguised and masked almost immediately with laughter and pure stubbornness. Interesting…
Are you supposed to test that which you trust (or at least pertain to trust)?
It was a question I directed at my ancient teacher. If you trust then there is no need to test, is there? And if you test, then do you trust? A line from an old spy TV series came to mind. “Trust but verify” A corny line to be sure, but has it validity when dealing with the universe?
The problem is this, if the universe leads you astray (or seemingly so) then did you get the sign wrong? Was it meant to be? Was there a sign at all? Did you err along the way? Or shouldn’t you have trusted the universe?
I reflected on all of these thoughts as they whirled around in my mind. It isn’t the first time I wished for a Pensive (see Harry Potter). At some point the Yew tree managed to find a space in the maelstrom and interjected a word…”Test”
What? Test the universe? You have to understand, the Yew talks to me and through me, so the next statement sounds like it might very well be my own. “Yes, because you are a part of the universe.”
How can I do that? I asked, looking for more direction. “You will get an example and an opportunity.” and before I could ask when? It added, “Today.” Well, you can’t get a better result than that, can you? I felt excited as I lit incense and left magnitudes of gratitudes.
On the way home I pondered what the lesson would be and where I could apply it. But there was no answers, I suppose I have to trust the universe…
One thought on “Testing the Universe part 1 of 2”