The Journey Home

Steven Mead

Steven serves UU Santa Fe as Consulting Lifespan Learning Director

Ever notice how a small thing can take you home? A scent, a flower, a thunderstorm—and all of a sudden you aren’t where you thought you were—driving your car, behind your desk, in your garden. Unbidden, you are on your way home. I thought I would share the insight of Trebbe Johnson, from whom I quote extensively from her article, Equipment List for the Journey Home.  Some of this kit is exotic—not the kind of stuff you are going to find on Ebay—but essential for your Journey Home. Here goes:

1. 1 pair beautiful, practical shoes: Shoes play an important part in many journey tales. The heroine in the fairy tale “Finn the Falcon” must wear out three pairs of iron shoes before she is reunited with her beloved.
2. A Sisyphean mat: Even poor Sisyphus has the opportunity to rest and take stock now and then. Although his eternal punishment is to shove a boulder up a mountain time after time after time, only to watch it tumble back down again—he has a mat that he can spread out on the ground and stretch out upon. On your homeward journey, you, too, will appreciate a mat you can lie on occasionally as you reflect on what you’ve been through and what you’re returning to.
3. A safe place to keep the treasure: All too often, a mythic journeyer gets careless at the very end of the trip and forgets to take care of the treasure he or she has struggled so hard to attain.
4. A hollow reed: It is important, as you near home, to consider how you might do things differently this time around. Like the Hopi who are given a hollow read by the Creator, through which they must climb to reach their fourth and current home on the desert mesas. The Creator warns them that they must treat this new home with care and attention to ceremony.
5. A detachable feather for your cap: Journey tales often remind us that the triumphs in your story may be uncomfortably linked to blunders, real or perceived. So, by all means, stick a feather in your cap in celebration of the extraordinary feat you’ve accomplished—but Trebbe reminds us to make sure you can quickly whisk it out of sight when circumstances demand a little humility.
6. 1 (and only 1) work glove: No matter how much wisdom you have gathered, you may still need a helping hand to accomplish a decisively important final task. Packing only one glove for the trip home will remind you that someone—perhaps someone you least expect—wears the glove that matches yours.
7. A Homewise Listening Device: This handy tool automatically attunes you to the people in your home territory whom you need to pay attention to. The Homewise Listening Device enables you, too, to zero in on those who have valuable advice it will behoove you to follow.
8. A Sacred Warning app for your smartphone: This useful app sounds an alarm at the very instant you’re about to forget the one thing you were told you absolutely must not forget upon arriving back in your own land. The Sacred Warning app will beep insistently when you’re on the verge of ignoring the advice you must follow.
9. Finally, a pouch for the gems of your story: As you return home from your great journey, you will naturally begin sifting through all that has happened and considering how you will tell your story to those you’ve left behind. Each trial, each trail, each close call is a sparkling, multifaceted gem of your story. Treat these treasures with care and carry a special pouch to store them in because each of these precious stones has been a gift that cost you dearly. 

Quite the kit, that list. Where can you find such devices? At the Oracle. On the mystic mountain. “Second star to the right and straight on 'til morning.” Right here, in this Special Place. It’s why we gather here.

It takes a lifetime to assemble this kit, but meanwhile, welcome home.

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