“I've come to believe that there exists in the universe something I call "The Physics of The Quest" — a force of nature governed by laws as real as the laws of gravity or momentum. And the rule of Quest Physics maybe goes like this: "If you are brave enough to leave behind everything familiar and comforting (which can be anything from your house to your bitter old resentments) and set out on a truth-seeking journey (either externally or internally), and if you are truly willing to regard everything that happens to you on that journey as a clue, and if you accept everyone you meet along the way as a teacher, and if you are prepared – most of all – to face (and forgive) some very difficult realities about yourself... then truth will not be withheld from you." Or so I've come to believe.” Liz Gilbert – Eat, Pray, Love
The Physics of the Quest and all that is Sacred in life – finding perceptions of sacredness.
I decided about a month ago to take on a huge task, paid the entry price and now I am knee-deep in the academic process which is proving already to be a test of my will and making me question all that I believe I am. This engagement is purely a self-directed and self-fulfilling task that while netting me an outcome that will be important to my work, is somewhat a cherry on top of my life’s sundae. On this Mother’s Day, as I write, let me explain as best I can.
The past 15 months have proven to be a test of our will as a human race to find purpose and meaning to daily living. Most recently, I heard one woman say that after 12 days of 14-day isolation and quarantine she was about ready to go out of her mind. She called her daughter and said, “I need help, in the form of conversation and company”. We are social beings and need each other to bring relevance to our lives. It is through task and action (questing) we find our way forward. Loneliness and isolation breed a certain feeling of emptiness and our very soul cry out for company and social interaction. This same woman admitted prayers and her concept of God was alive and well and she got to day 12 through grace and prayer.
So why isn’t God enough? If we come from the divine source, why is being alone with it not enough? Where else do we find sacredness that will sustain our existence? Even cloistered nuns and monks are alone together. There are many ways to seek sacred qualities and sacred connection that leads us back to a divine understanding or presence. Sacred qualities, or that which we find sacred, are held close to our heart and these sacred expressions are in partnership with faith. This quest I am on is something I look upon as sacred. “The sacred is not out there remote or disconnected from us; it is instead linked to us through thought, feeling, behaviour, and motivation.*” While the divine may be seen as our source there are many who witness sacred times and do not see themselves as believers of God.
Back to my task. There is a certain sacredness in accomplishments and accolades. Getting somewhere, achieving a goal, or completing a task brings a satisfaction that feeds a sacred quest and may fulfill a sacred quality. This is where the pandemic has done the most damage as well as been the greatest blessing. A contrast of human life that touches what we perceive as sacred. The pandemic has rattled us to the core of normal and shook up the doubts and limits we place upon ourselves. This task I have set for completion is just outside the scope of my pre-Covid imagination and has become a sacred quest now after I realize that it is only my own imagination that can begin to take me to sacred places. The realization that life can change in the flutter of a butterfly’s wing or that the stable can be destabilized, and the core can be rotten has created in me an adventurous spirit. It has revealed my tenacity and grit and a hunger to reach for that which I may have seen as sacred for others and not for me! These past months have torn off the bandage hiding my vulnerability and exposed my desire to reach for the moon knowing even if I fall short at all, I will land among the stars. These past months have invited me to truly define what is sacred and have verified how I am worthy to reach for anything. In our complacency and settling for a life that is dull or lacking motivation, we have lost touch with the very sacred part of existence.
After 12 days the woman needed some reassurance there was life out there and reached out. The sacredness of daily interaction and reaching is life giving; it is sacred. After 15 years of building myself a tool chest this task I set myself will be a sacred quest to complete and bring it all together. Whether I am successful or not the act of reaching is sacred to me. It reminds me how much I believe I belong in this sacred club. These past 18 months have brought me to realize my sacred connection needs outward recognition. Like a ring on a finger represents sacred vows, or a vestment recognizes sacred commitment, and shined-up golf clubs represent a sacred passion when we reach for recognition of that which is sacred to our soul we validate and verify, to ourselves and the world, our depth of commitment.
I see broken spirits everywhere these days and yet I see so much sacred beauty. What I want you to realize is by simply changing two letters you can go from scared to sacred. As I reach the goal of my task to honour my sacred commitment, I invite you to watch for what is sacred in your life. Where do you go to reassure your soul and discover the sacred in your life? What is sacred to you? What do you hold dear above all else? Where do you see vestiges, traces, or remnants of sacred in your life? Are you courageous enough to reach out? On this sacred day, what in your life are you mothering?
* Dr. Kenneth Pargament – Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy
Cynthia Breadner is a grief specialist and bereavement counsellor, a soul care worker and offers specialized care in Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy with special attention to trauma resolution. She volunteers at hospice, works as a LTC chaplain and is a death doula, assisting with end-of-life care for client and family. She is the mother part of the #DanCynAdventures duo and practices fitness, health and wellness. She is available remotely by safe and secure video connections, if you have any questions contact her today! [email protected] breakingstibah.com
