with every step

With every step

We enter the temple

Have you ever gone on a pilgrimage? I don’t mean necessarily an official pilgrimage, a well known one. But perhaps at some point you have heard of a place that has taken on a special meaning for you. It has called to you – come, come, come to me. A place, perhaps, with some mystical meaning for you. You feel drawn, without knowing exactly why.

But it entails a journey to get there, perhaps travelling very far, perhaps walking a long way. And then finally, you reach your destination. And there, on the threshold, you can feel your whole being quivering with anticipation, excitement and that mystery. Perhaps you take off your shoes. Perhaps you pause for a long while before finally taking a step across that threshold and into the temple.

It’s a sacred moment, a moment which invites us to set aside our little personal story and surrender to the serenity that the temple represents. And now I suggest to you that every step we take is like that step. We are entering a temple.

So with every step, we should remember that feeling of mystery and reverence, the quivering excitement and anticipation, and the setting aside of our little story of our separate self. With every step, we can be surrendering to existence. With every step we take, we can be touching the earth, barefoot, in serenity.