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Loori teaches that we, through meditation, get familiar with the “edges of the unknown.” This is, in the narrative of Abram, Abram leaving his familiar and familial home toward the place “I will show you.” Notice, the Living One does not tell Abram exactly where he is going, the Living One does not name it. When we name things, that gives us a sense of control. This may seem harsh, this call of the Living One, but Abram is assured that the unfamiliar, unnamed place will be the place of blessing. He does not know the place, now, but he will become famous in that place, later.
All that God has for Abram is past the edges of the familiar. He will never become Abraham, a newly named and destined man, if he remains in the familiar, inside the borders of the known. In the familiar he will feel safer and know the area better. In the familiar he will not lose his close relations with family and friends, likely, many of whom he grew up with from a child. But, Abram has to choose between the familiar or journey beyond the edges of the known. We do, too. But how do we do this?
Loori says that our meditation is an “engaging our edges.” Then, as we do this, our confidence deepens. The unknown becomes more positively inviting and less threatening.
Talk to anyone who has meditated for a few years, consistently. Likely, she can say something like this: I have experienced a moment when I went somewhere else, and it scared me so badly that I turned back. At that “somewhere else” we sense we are losing control—we are! In fact, by personal experience, the word death is an apt word. Life to many of us is having reference points for our identity: Christian, Buddhist, White, Black, mother, father, daughter, son, lawyer, … At that “somewhere else” all that drops. And, likewise, we can feel that we might not be able to return to “here.”
I do not intend to discourage you, but meditation is not a practice to bring you lasting peace of mind and comfort in your familiar place. If you want to be more religious or better psychologically adjusted in your familiarity, then, do not begin or continue practicing meditation.
I call all readers and my friends beyond the edges of the familiar. I call them to engage their lives as adventures, whether that means a geographical move or only moves where you are located in place, now.
The Gospel has several references to the language of following Jesus. For example, Jesus spoke to a wealthy, young man seeking eternal life:
20The young man said to him, "All these I have kept. What do I still lack?" 21Jesus said to him, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." 22When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. (Matthew 19.20-22, ESV)
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Jesus called this man to the edges of the familiar. The familiar was the security of money. The man would not surrender the safety of the known for the uncertainties of following Jesus.
In Acts 9, the slanderous, murderous, but deeply religious Saul is confronted by the Living Jesus, as Saul is traveling to Damascus to take Christians to be placed in prison. He sees the Christ, and he asks for his identity. Then Christ replies.
5"Who are you?" Saul asked.
"I am Jesus," the Lord answered. "I am the one you are so cruel to. 6Now get up and go into the city, where you will be told what to do." (Acts 9, CEV)
Again, we see the edges of the familiar. We see a man called to “where you will be told.” Saul became Paul, and history has never been the same, since.
We proceed to this unfamiliar, however, by being faithful where we are. We want to be responsive to the leading of the Divine Presence. We do not want to run into the unknown as some ego trip. If we are faithful where we are, externally or internally, then, we can be assured things will change. Being faithful where we are prepares us to be faithful where Spirit leads us, next. We are meant to move from horizon to horizon, from question to answer to question …, and from “place” to “place.” The spiritual life is an adventure, not a destination. We are on an Unending Journey of Love.
Spiritual Exercise
1. Ask, “Am I where God wants me to be?” If not, ask, “What is keeping me here?”
2. Look back over your life, to a time of transition, which was accompanied by much uncertainty. What helped you traverse through the change? What role did spiritual community play in helping you? How did Scripture assist in encouraging you? How did your daily spiritual practice help sustain you?
3. Do you feel stuck in life? Stuck at a place? A job? How might God be trying to speak to you about pressing against the edges of the known and opening to change? What distracts you from making a move? What attracts you about a potential move?
4. What patterns in your family history might discourage or encourage your going into the unfamiliar “place”?
5. How might meditation be a preparation for becoming a little more comfortable and confident about change in other areas of your life?
6. Does the spiritual community you serve and worship in find moving into the unfamiliar an opportunity for adventure and growth or do they avoid it, staying stuck on this side of the unknown? How does the community encourage or discourage your need to be adventuresome and inviting toward wandering and journey?
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