I’ve always felt that when I’m pressured [or feel forced] to do something in life, I usually end up rejecting the idea, or if I go ahead with it, I don’t feel so great about it. More often than not, I think all of us feel better about major decisions or life shifts when we have the space and agency to think and follow our intuition. I think this is very accurate when it comes to spirituality or religion. How many times have you heard a preacher or teacher tell you how to live, what to do, and where to go? How often have you felt more coerced than invited to practice faith or spirituality?
Jesus of Nazareth was setting an example. For there were [and still are] many wolves and thieves out there who seek to manipulate, convince, and even steal from our humanity and the essence of who we are. No, we are not sheep. But the metaphor is more about the sheepherder than about the sheep themselves.
Imagine you are walking through life gate by gate. You see one entrance to a gate, and enter. This act then leads you to another space, and then another gate. If you feel invited and welcomed, if you trust the journey and are curious enough to explore, you keep finding new spaces and new gates that lead to new opportunities and possibilities. But it cannot be a limited, forced, or trapped feeling from gate to gate. You should not feel like a gate becomes a prison. Each gate is merely a passageway to a new space, a new way to be. This how I often imagine God-Spirit-One, as an Inviting Presence that gives us all an opportunity to discover new gates that lead to new spaces. In this way we don’t have to feel stuck in what we are or where we are today. Tomorrow and the next day are gifts. What will we find? Where will we go? Who will we be?