Dear Friends,
The Assisting Force
When I was young in my late 20s, I was camping in the Valley of Yosemite. There I met a Dutch couple in their early 30s, hardcore travelers, from the Netherlands. They made a conscious choice to put a pause button on their conventional life of working and raising a family for 3 years to travel together around the world. They were wrapping up their North America tour following travels to the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Polynesia, and South America.
While socializing around the campfire drinking a bottle of cheap wine, I asked them what best travel book they would recommend to me. Without a pause they suggested the “Lonely Planet” Travel Guide book, hands down.
Then I popped THE question: “From all your travel experience what best advice would you give me about what I should know about traveling.” They looked at each other and said to me, “That’s a very good question, and it deserves some reflection before we give you our answer. Can we sleep on it and give you the answer in the morning?”
Next morning, the couple were up early, started the campfire, and made a hot pot of coffee. They intentionally made some noises to wake me up to join them over coffee. I obliged. They said they have the answer for my question. And it is this: “The best advice we can give you about travel is just two words: JUST GO!” Those two words have had a lasting impact on me in shaping my attitudes toward life.
As you plan for your summer travels, I invite you to become aware of the “Assisting Force” accompanying you. In a society suffering from loneliness and severed belonging, we come to realize we cannot survive or flourish alone. There is a necessary and needed helper on our human journey, the ally, the reliable companion, the assisting force.
In every heroic journey, the story of hero or heroine requires a trustworthy companion to fulfill his/her/their destiny. Some of the assisting forces in our lives are visible and some are invisible. Some are with us for life; some come and go. The assisting force is often depicted as an aide, a wise advisor, a spirit guide. Examples of spiritual assisting forces are the Holy Spirit, grace of God, Christ’s presence, angels, saints, bodhisattvas, animal spirits, strangers, family members and friends alive and dead. These assisting forces are in and around us aiding us. As you travel this summer, look for signs of these “Assisting Forces” and lean into them. To your surprise, you’ll experience grace, an unmerited favor of God.
Something,
we know not what,
is always and everywhere lovingly at work,
we know not how,
to make us more than we are now
to make the world more than it is yet.
This is the grace
that helps release the abundant love, wisdom, and healing
that are in us all and for which the world is waiting.
~ David Richo
Traveling mercies,
John
