St Peter said Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God(The Message). This consciousness/awareness/knowing is meant to be felt in community, in contemplation, with the scent of hope. I believe that consciousness grows as we begin to love our own story and hold it in the Light with the Almighty who co-authored it.
Parker Palmer says "a circle of trust holds us in a space where we can make our own discernments, in our own way and time, in the encouraging and challenging presence of other people.
Hidden Wholeness page 27
This balancing of dialogue and silence is not an easy learning process. Both bring out our own wounding and yet both will offer great healing if we learn to trust the One who we journey with and become more conscious of the Almighty's presence. And learn to love our own story.
Palmer also writes about cultivating the inner life. As I pondered these things in the coolness of an autumn morning I saw the "garden" of our lives that must be tended, nurtured, respected and honoured through each season of living. Our inner life is the sacred property on which story is planted, faces seasons, life, death, and redemption. Inner life is also the sacred canvas upon which our own stories are painted with dark and Light, and every colour in the spectrum. It is a masterpiece worth loving. There is also the fact that it is sacred parchment upon which every detail is written. Whether it is the property, the canvas or the parchment your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God and where community, a circle of trust, is a safe place to share the wonder of this "inner life".
Lord in Your mercy lead us to safe places. Let us be unafraid of silence, and fill our dialogue with grace and truth and Light.