I ran across this travel piece this morning, right after I put up the St. Christopher post. Its author is talking about travel - literally- and suggests two rules:
1. Carry only what you love and
2. Live like a local.
These are great spiritual rules too. When we worry about what could happen or might happen (a large percentage of what never happens), we pack on extra baggage. Packing - or living - as if calamity is going to strike kills the spirit. Carrying that extra burden hurts - and often, we don't realize that we are the only one who can cast it off.
Every time I go out, I travel with faith because, due to my lack of dexterity, I depend on others for assistance. I cannot bring that assistance with me all of the time and I refuse to limit my mobility that way. I suppose carrying faith isn't such a bad thing.
Living like a local, the author writes, is about being able to deal with our fear of the unknown and developing an ability to embrace "the customs and liv[e] like a local". Trying new things out, learning about the ways other live, is a large part of our spiritual journey here on earth. It enriches our lives to do that as well as the lives of others, casting aside our perceptions and assumptions.
It sounds like inclusion to me.
There is a large Hispanic speaking population in our town. Often I find myself explaining the help I need in another language. Sometimes the results are humorous but more often I learn. Perhaps new words, new customs. And, I hope, sometimes the other person learns from me.
I think traveling is something that can be done locally - and done well. There are new things to see if we simply change our route - or the method we use to travel - by foot, bicycle, scooter, wheelchair.
It's all a different experience, but these two rules apply no matter how we get around.
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