The Invitation

Over my whole adult life I have felt increasingly hungry for the experience of God over a mere understanding of God. In seminary I thought a lot about God and God’s character, but on the days when I could ride my bicycle I could feel God sneak under my skin and fill my heart. It was as if the rhythm of cycling, in the open air, where my lungs and legs propelled me to a deeper, richer experience allowed me to feel the Sacred in my body beyond all thoughts of God.Rumi now invites me into this pilgrimage of discovery, experience, severing, deepening and broadening. There will be little deaths and new budding forms of life. As the September 3 date nears, I can feel the pilgrimage beginning to work on me. There is anxiety and fear, anticipation and excitement. Over next the few weeks I will invite you into the experience as best as I can. I hope that in following me you will also find those deeper places where God is ready to spring to life within you. Here is Rumi’s invitation:Yes, you who've gone on pilgrimage -where are you, where, oh where?Here, on this path you can find the truth!So come, come now, yes come!Come, come, whoever you are.Wonderer, worshipper, lover of leaving.It doesn't matter.Ours is not a caravan of despair.Come, even if you have broken your vow a thousand timesCome, yet again, come...From Divan-e Shams-e TabriziMevlana Rumi (1207-1273)