The Journey Continues: Learning to Become a Faithful Traveler

Several months ago, we began what I thought would simply be a series of Weekly Words. Each Monday we would

take a word, sit with it for a while, listen to what it might be saying to us, and then invite others to reflect upon how

that movement was showing up in their own lives.

But somewhere along the way, something happened.

The words became a journey.

We began with Stirring—that almost imperceptible movement within when something begins happening before we

fully understand what it is. From stirring came disruption and rupture. Something familiar was being disturbed. Then

came Dislocation, when we began to recognize that the places, patterns, ways of thinking, and sometimes even

identities that once seemed comfortable could no longer hold who we were becoming.

Dislocation eventually gave way to Reorientation. The soul began turning. We did not necessarily know where we

were going, but something within us was beginning to face a different direction.

Then came Illumination.

Light began to appear.

And when light appeared, Discernment became possible. We began learning to distinguish one thing from another

—the voice of fear from the voice of faith, reaction from response, what gives life from what drains life, and what

God may be asking us to embrace from what He may be asking us to release.

But seeing required something from us.

And so we came to Yieldedness.

Yieldedness asked us to loosen our grip. It invited us to stop resisting what God had already begun making clear. We

discovered that yielding was not giving up; it was giving over.

Then came Abiding.

After saying yes, the soul had to learn to remain.

We discovered that spiritual formation is not always found in doing more. Sometimes the deepest work happens

simply because we stay. We remain in His Word. We remain in prayer. We remain in His presence. We remain long

enough for what God is doing within us to take root.

And from abiding came Attentiveness.

The soul that remains eventually begins to notice.

Things that had always been there suddenly caught our attention. A Scripture lingered. A song returned. A

conversation stayed with us. Something in creation caused us to stop. We began to understand that God had not

suddenly become more present. We had become more aware of the Presence that had been there all along.

Finally, we considered Responsiveness.

Once the soul notices, it must learn how to answer what it has seen.

And perhaps one of the greatest signs of maturity we discovered was that responsiveness does not always mean

doing something. Sometimes the response is movement. Sometimes it is waiting. Sometimes it is forgiveness.

Sometimes it is speaking. And sometimes the most mature response is silence.

We learned the difference between reacting and responding.

And now we arrive at this final Monday.

But I do not believe we have arrived at the end.

I believe we have arrived at another place along the journey.

One of the things I have become increasingly convinced of is that spiritual maturity is learning how to travel.

Maturity is not arriving at a place where nothing else happens to us.

There will be other stirrings.

There will be other disruptions.

There will be other seasons of dislocation.

There will be times when we must be reoriented again.

There will be new light.

There will be things we must discern.

There will be something else we must release.

There will be another invitation to remain.

There will be something we have never noticed before.

And there will always be another opportunity to respond.

That is the journey.

The goal, therefore, is not to find the perfect station.

The goal is to become a faithful traveler.

A faithful traveler learns not to panic when the landscape changes.

A faithful traveler understands that every station is not permanent.

A faithful traveler learns when to move and when to remain.

A faithful traveler pays attention to the Cloud.

A faithful traveler understands that sometimes the path forward leads through territory we would never have chosen

for ourselves.

And above all, a faithful traveler learns to trust the One who knows the journey from beginning to end.

Perhaps that is what these months together have really been about.

We have not merely been learning words.

We have been learning how to travel.

And I hope somewhere along this journey you have begun developing a language for your own soul. Perhaps you

have learned to recognize when something is stirring. Perhaps you have become less afraid of dislocation. Perhaps

you have learned to wait for illumination before making judgments. Perhaps discernment has slowed your reactions.

Perhaps yieldedness has loosened your grip. Perhaps abiding has taught you to remain. Perhaps attentiveness has

opened your eyes. Perhaps responsiveness has changed the way you answer what life brings before you.

If any of that has happened, then these Weekly Words have accomplished something worthwhile.

But there is one more thing I hope we have learned.

We must practice what we have seen.

There comes a time when studying the spiritual life must become living the spiritual life. There comes a time when

what we have learned must move from the page into our practice, from our minds into our lives, and from

information into formation.

The journey must be walked.

And so, although this is our final Monday Weekly Word from this particular series, I do not say goodbye.

I simply say:

Keep traveling.

Keep listening.

Keep noticing.

Keep discerning.

Keep yielding.

Keep abiding.

And when the Cloud moves—

move.

When the Cloud remains—

remain.

Where We Go From Here

On Saturday, September 12, we will gather again for our next class. There we will continue our journey through

the Creation narrative in Genesis and the Book of Ruth.

We will look again beneath the surface of these ancient texts and ask what they reveal about the movements,

shaping, ordering, development, and formation of the soul.

For I am increasingly convinced that the pattern is there.

It was there in the beginning.

It was there in Ruth.

And if we become attentive enough...

we may discover that the pattern is also unfolding in us.

Until then, fellow travelers:

Do not rush the journey.

Do not despise the station.

Do not be afraid when the landscape changes.

Pay attention to the Cloud.

And above all—

become a faithful traveler.

— Pastor Polk