Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you. –Matthew 7:7
At our last monthly discussion group, someone said something about focusing on the journey, not the destination. That reminded me of all the “seekers” of the 60s and early 70s. Seeking enlightenment in India, seeking experience in LSD, seeking peace at protests, seeking love in sex, seeking simplicity in going back to the land, sometimes seeking just to be seeking. “I’m a seeker” was a popular phrase.
I was one of them. I traveled the world with a backpack, I marched in Washington, I lived off the land in Montana. Always seeking.
When the topic came up at our meeting, I realized that I at some point along the way, I didn’t want to be a seeker anymore. I wanted to be a finder. The title to this blog, after all, is not seeking your happy place; it’s finding your happy place...and staying there.
So I sought and I knocked. And, as promised, the door opened and I found. I found what Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz found. Home. My happy place. Right where it has always been. Here. Now. In this holy instant. And in this one.
Well, said the person at the meeting, that’s great, but how do you get there? That’s just it. We are here. Everyone. We can block our awareness of it, like clouds block the sun, but the sun shines on whether we see it or not.
Our task is not to seek; our task is to remove, to remove everything that blocks us from the light. Unlike the sun, though, this light is not out there. It’s inside. The eternal flame that burns in my soul and yours. Sculptors say that when they look at a piece of marble, they see the form inside and simply chip away at the outside until the beauty is revealed.
So it is with us. We chip away until we see our own reflection, right there where it always was. So beautiful. So perfect. Shining free.
For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face. Now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. –1 Corinthians 13:12
Related post: You Can Go Home Again
Beautifully put!
ReplyDeleteI was standing around the other day contemplating this very thing. If I am perfect just as I am, then what is all of this yucky stuff doing here getting in the way of me consciously enjoying this very moment? And my visualization was to take things away that don't serve and don't belong. Exactly.
Julie, So glad we are in sync today!
DeleteExcellent point Galen; finding myself has been a journey, a journey which included getting lost, stumbling, falling, brushing myself off and starting all over again. I've found myself, even though I still trip here and there or hit a speed bump, and I've come to learn that it is in the here and the now which matters, after all, that's all we're guarenteed in life.
DeleteHave a fantastic moment in time! :-)
darlin, I, too, hit a speed bump now and then, as do we all. But we know where home is and how to get back to it. May all your moments be fantastic.
DeleteI spent many years seeking. I totally relate to these lines. Seeking became exhausting, as at no stage I could say I found my place, at no stage I was contented.
ReplyDeleteNot I am in a better place, living peace in the moment, moving away the things that don't serve me any more. There are days I find myself back in the seeker's shoes. I don't like it much and I always find the energy to find my way back to me.
Have a wonderful day Galen Pearl and thanks for being such an Inspiration on the journey!
Marie, During all those seeking years, I had moments of being very content and happy, but that was not my home base. My home base was restless and anxious. Now it's reversed. My home base is content and happy, and I have moments of being restless and anxious. A good switch!
DeleteThis is beautiful Galen! "Our task is not to seek; our task is to remove, to remove everything that blocks us from the light." I wholeheartedly agree! (Like Julie :-)
ReplyDeleteLori
Thanks, Lori!
DeleteIsn't it funny or silly how so many times in our lives we run from what later we find to be what or where we truly need to be or do? This comes after all that running, living off here and there and seeking those things we have stored inside us. Absolutely you have again brought us home! Thanks for your uplifting, and kind words Galen.
ReplyDeleteKaren, That certainly describes me! Maybe we just get tired eventually and sit down, and what do you know--we're right where we wanted to be! Thanks for your comment.
DeleteWell said! I really enjoyed this post and you are right...don't let a little cloud ruin your happiness. Have a lovely day :)
ReplyDeleteNiki, For some reason, your comment evoked an image of Eeyore with the little rain cloud always above his head! Hope you have a lovely day, too.
DeleteWhat a beautifully written post...so often we spend to much time and energy searching (seeking) and the answer has always been right in front of us...within us. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteClaudia
Claudia, I know that was true for me. Thanks for commenting.
DeleteI am reading a book right now that is for review on April 4th...and it is all about 4 simple steps to increase one's ability to remove the blockages from your brain that are keeping one from experiencing joy and their best selves.
ReplyDeleteMy father used to say the first half of life is about acquiring (knowledge or skills or ideas) and that the second half of life is about letting go - release.
I know around 60 women need to let go and retell their stories so that they can free themselves for the peak of creativity that starts about age 65...
Nice to think about these things...good words
Patricia, I'm reading a book like that now--Code to Joy. Is that what you're reading, too? Your father sounds like a wise man!
DeleteAmen, to the thoughts expressed today. I felt such an enlighenment. I like to think about seeking for the light of Christ; but inorder to do that we do need to remove whatever is in the way from seeing that light and receive the light of his love in our live more freely. If we do that we will have that light in our lives. Our Prophet has said: "Enjoy the Journey" Which I try to do.
ReplyDeleteBlessings to you for some great thoughts to ponder.
LeAnn, Thank you for the kind words. It is a shift, isn't it, to see our lives in terms of removing blocks rather than pursuing something.
DeleteI am where I am, unable to change it... I can make myself miserable in this place, or I can make it HOME. Sometimes it is hard, but usually it just takes some stepping back to see it all in perspective.
ReplyDeleteI can change how I feel, how I react to life's happenings in the here and now. I can take journeys from this place by the way I look and feel toward my friends, job, life in general. When I wake up each morning... that makes wherever I am special.
restoring, So true about making ourselves miserable or choosing to be happy. Thanks for commenting.
DeleteGalen: There is an ancient martial arts saying, "Seek and you will not find."
ReplyDeleteJJ, I love that! And it's so true, from big things to little things. I lost my car keys the other day, and the harder I looked, the more I couldn't find them. When I let it go and relaxed, I went back and there they were. I'm going to remember this saying. Thank you!
DeleteThat's so funny... and so true! Reminds me of the saying "the hurrier I go the behinder I get" LOL
DeleteGorgeous post btw Galen... I loved every minute of it!
Jean, Another good saying! Thanks for the kind words.
DeleteNice post and so insightful.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Cynthia.
DeleteI used to search externally for all kinds of answers and after going round and round, I was still discontented from feeling unfulfilled. My journey then led me back home (myself). And in the recent years, whenever I get distracted by seeking elsewhere, I am led on the same path back again and again.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Galen!
Evelyn, You sound like me! I think we have a lot in common. Thanks for commenting.
DeleteBeautiful words my fellow finder and past seeker - I have a feeling that you also seek still but in a different way.
ReplyDeleteIt's the light within that shines to others to see - for those who are seeking and you shine your light - that's a good thing - they also want the light - this leads me to my GOD where he is the light and he is love. Always finding us wherever we are - gently taking us on our journeys.
In gratitude,
Nancy
Nancy, I'm sure that's true. It is seeking in a different way. I've been trying to put it into words, but so far I haven't found the right ones. Thanks, as always, for your lovely comment.
DeleteI am definitely chipping away to see what is underneath. And I'm trusting all the beauty will be revealed in the end!
ReplyDeleteAlida, We know it will be! Thanks for commenting.
DeleteI love this post, Galen and you ended it with one of my favorite lines from the Bible. Yes, I think there was a time I took pride in being a 'seeker' but no more, I'm just happy to be me, happy to be where I am and attempting to enjoy every moment of what I've 'found' ♥
ReplyDeleteCorinne, Great comment. You are a wise model for us all!
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