Travel isn't always pretty. It isn't always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that's OK. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.

— Anthony Bourdain

Greetings, Inspired Seekers:

There are many experiences that offer us the opportunity to be vulnerable and, through that vulnerability, to expand our thoughts and hearts – to change us. One of these experiences is travel. Travel opens everything up to the bigness, the smallness and the newness of our lives. Travel can also show us where we are stuck. It is a miraculous experience.

Travel provides us with the grace of connection to the human soul and to our God. The mystery, risk, joy and challenges are the mystical gifts that become our most precious souvenirs.

I was fortunate to do a bit of exploration recently. In fact, I write this letter while still in a bit of jet-lagged brain-fog. The visions of Scotland and Iceland are firmly imprinted in my mind and heart.

The joy and discovery that opens up for us as we open ourselves to strangers who become friends (even temporarily), make us bigger people for having enjoyed their company and welcomed them.

Our willingness to trust and to be vulnerable creates within us a taught safety net which allows us to better greet the world. It gives our soul a loving travel companion. The vistas of both countries were inspiring and magical and the people we met are now part of the photographs held in our memories.

Engaging with those from different lands, faiths, beliefs and cultures gives us a passport into the landscape of unfamiliar minds and hearts where we learn, not simply about those lands, faiths, beliefs and cultures, but also about the processes by which they find form. The greater understanding we have of these constructs, the more we discover our common ground and learn to respect our differences. The more vulnerable we allow ourselves to be, the more willing to put aside ego, the more willing to listen, the more we grow beyond ourselves.

I am so thankful to those who shared this adventure with me, for now they are woven into my very being. We shared ourselves, took chances and toasted the life we share in creation.

Get out there! Explore a new land without expectation! Be fully present in vulnerability! Enjoy the gifts of interbeing! Travel as much as you can, for the gifts are so much more than the itinerary suggests.

Grace, Always Yours,
Reverend Deborah

Question of the Month: Where will you travel and allow yourself to be vulnerable?

The Reverend Dr. Deborah Darlington is a spiritual traveling companion for all people. She can be reached at GraceMatters@TheSpaceForGrace.com for assistance in your journey.