I want to go deeper

I am both amazed and amused when I reflect on the number of individuals who have said “I want to go deeper” these past weeks. My amazement comes from the consistency of this comment from people of different ages and lifestyles. My amusement flows from sensing the movement of the Spirit one more time. From my experience, when the Spirit moves, people are moved to respond in a similar fashion and hence “I want to go deeper” becomes a refrain echoed by any number of people.

This is an exciting time. The longing to go deeper seems to be both a desire to let go ‘my way’ in response to the Spirit who leads us beyond the specifics of any one way to embrace the Mystery of ‘no way’. Or as St. John of the Cross says “from this moment on there is no way.’ I want to go deeper seems to speak of integrity between who I am and how I live each day. In the scriptures the young man says to Jesus “I have done all these things, what more must I do?” It is an awareness that there is something more that no thing, no person can fill. Depth speaks to a relationship beyond the surface of life and an openness to God of Life in all its manifold expressions.

Depth speaks to the essence of Eremos – the desert, solitary place to which Jesus invited his disciples. It is reflected in our current expression. Within Eremos depth depends less on conformity to rules and styles and more on an openness to each person’s unique expression of his/her faith and life experience. But, like the Eremos of Jesus’ time, the disciples were invited to ‘come away’ as a community. So too, today seems to be a growing awareness that we need kindred spirits for this journey into new depths. We need to learn from each other and empower each other to risk the depths our souls yearn to discover. The Spirit is truly moving within us and around us. May we have the courage to respond that the willingness to find our ‘kindred spirits’ as we journey deeper into the Heart of God.