All the heroes of the faith, at some point, broke away from the norm, the crowd, the established, to become pioneers, to find their own spiritual property, build their own spiritual homes, to become caretakers of their own spirituality.
Some are happy just going along with the flow, upholding the faith and maintaining the institution of their religion. They are happy to live and die in the arms of their inherited religion, belief, faith and spirituality. They are a stable blessing to the world. We are thankful.
But not those who have a sense of adventure and harbour within their breast the urgent necessity to expand their territory!
It has always been a dangerous and lonely occupation. It is fraught with threats to life and limb. But this fades in importance to the promise of new life, freedom and independence. They will always leave the comforts of home to find new life.
There are, unfortunately, no maps. The hostiles have not been subdued. You are on your own. But you can read the stories of those who have done the same thing. They have excellent general advice. They have wise warnings. They have useful strategies. But there are no specifics for you specifically. But they also have good news, favourable reports, and the hope of what they were looking for.
I want to encourage you that your journey, from beginning to end, is blessed. But you must embark. You must take it. You must become the pioneer you’ve always felt you were called to be.
Go!
You might find my two books, my two books, “nakedpastor101″ and “Without a Vision My People Prosper”, (available soon on Kindle thank you very much) helpful.
illustrating spiritual paths
Needed this today. Thank you. Maggie
This is where i am. But moving forward. I think. Who knows?
I am fully embracing the journey and the path I am on….freedom is a sweet thing once you leave fear behind.
Thank you for your openness,honesty and encouragement…fellow pioneer <3
I have resurrected a sermon theme I remember hearing some years ago…..In the faith journey you will be either a “settler” or a “pioneer.”
Just sayin’
Okay, I”m going to be a pain in the ass, and suggest you read that entry again, and take a look at what meaning you are wanting to convey, and what words you actually use.
You are using words and concepts together in ways that have the possibility of being quite contradictory…or possibly just paradoxical. (Building a new home by leaving the comfort of home. Go on a journey to expand territory, etc.)
The actual meaning and aspects of words like, “pioneer”, “hero”, “home”, “caretakers”, “property”, “territory”, “occupation”, “expansion”, “hostiles”, “subdued”, “embark” are interesting.
*Ponders*…. It isn’t that I really have anything specific to say about the post, other than the words/phrasing seemed a bit at odds, perhaps even discordant, with the message. It could be a ‘you say taMAYto, I say TAHmato’ sorts of things, ala ‘vision’ as either a positive or negative term.
I thought it was worth mentioning though.
To be completely transparent, I also came here via Facebook, and over on facebook a friend’s post on the US and their fear of all things ‘socialism’ ran into a rather longer conversation thread that included aspects of independence, settlement, manifest destiny, the ‘indian problem’, imperialism, etc. So, I didn’t exactly arrive over here with an empty slate in my mind at the time.
Beautiful…. Absolutely beautiful David.
“The path to salvation is narrow, and that to destruction, wide.”
Don’t take a decision to go your ‘own way’, lightly.
ALL heroes of the faith went THEIR OWN way? I’m unconvinced. That is a huge, yet completely unsubstantiated claim is so individualistic that it is surprising to find here.
The narrow path may be the one we take on our own…away from the throngs of followers.
Perhaps, Alice….heroes of the faith went a NEW WAY….I don’t recognize the emphasis by David of these heroes of the faith going THEIR OWN WAY. He makes the point that it is a fraught journey…I think they didn’t always throw away “everything” to go selfishly their own way….in many instances they went a NEW & BETTER WAY.
I should have added….there is freedom and space to remain on a lonely path with no followers but it is still my preferred path given the alternatives I’ve uncovered so far. So in that respect it would be right to say I stick with my own ideas and I am responsible for my faith journey.
This is more normal than many think…we have just been conditioned to ignore the journey that it is.
I like that you encourage pioneering. Indeed some people are called to that, but fail to hear the call.
Go and be…
Unfortunately we are taught and conditioned to fallow, told our thoughts are evil both crippling concepts. In doing that the gifts we were given to give others are never revealed. It is a sad state.
“Some are happy just going along with the flow, upholding the faith and maintaining the institution of their religion. They are happy to live and die in the arms of their inherited religion, belief, faith and spirituality. They are a stable blessing to the world. We are thankful.”
Speak for yourself – I am NOT thankful. These are the people who destabilize the world with their unwillingness to consider other viewpoint and not let things like reason or compassion or love interfere with an institution – and who bring persecution to my door where it wouldn’t otherwise exist. This legitimizes those who are cold adherents to tenets without thought or compasion. The Jesus of the bible wouldn’t be thankful for the religious person’s rigidity and neither am I.
Like too!