For the traveler, the known, worn path is a place of predictability and a sense of safety. Filled with fellow travelers, it’s also a place of distraction and noise. Kierkegaard reminds us that to address the divided heart, the will that is caught wrestling within temporal and eternal realities, the traveler must venture off the common, busy path. There, away from the crowd and temporal noise, the traveler ventures into the solitary forest of contemplation to address inner, eternal longings. “We interrupt our busy lives to put on the quiet of contemplation,” says the Danish philosopher.
When the traveler positions themself away from the crowded highway and bravely departs from the familiar path, a reward is given. The reward, says Kierkegaard, is the “festival garment” of self-awareness.
Self-awareness is impossible without reflection. Reflection, by nature, requires the traveler to stop and stand still for a while. Like a murmuring brook, which flows alongside life’s busy highway, “If you go buried in your thoughts, if you are busy, then you do not notice it all in your passing.” But if the traveler moves into the forest, and pauses awhile, he gives space for the soul to breathe. Then, the murmuring is soon heard, along with many other unspeakable, and invitational sounds.
The eternal, deep longing of the soul arises out of the quiet place, almost introducing itself to the weary traveler.
To venture off the highway then is to pause, to quiet the soul, and allow for the quieting, restorative work of the Spirit. Like rushing past a mirror, Kierkegaard says our busyness serves to mute our eternal moorings. Deceived by the spellbinding nature of the temporal highway, the traveler remains wholly unaware of the deep, potentiality just beneath the surface.
Our perceived paradigm of reality begins to shift as we pause to embrace solitude; we are much more than earthly highway travelers. As Chardin poignantly notes:
“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Jesus, we read, regularly ventured away from the crowds, off the beaten paths. Though he lived among the crowds, he was often far from them as well. He valued the murmuring brook with its eternal, nourishing effect. For the wearied traveler, the invitation to solitude and reflection restores the soul as our temporal realities attune to our eternal makeup. As we clothe ourselves with the garments of contemplation, may we experience the nourishing living water that restores our souls. Then, we can re-enter the busy highway of life, filled and at peace, beyond even our understanding (Phil 4:7).
So we enter a new year. We are told to look ahead, and yet, to reflect is to look behind, and within. It is said that the youthful traveler hurries past their experiences en route for new adventures ahead. The mature traveler, however, wisely pauses to gather up the experiences, recognizing their value for the road ahead.
What might you need to gather up from this past year?
The pause, to put on our festival garments of reflection, is to see life as a gift, not a race. Life is a gift of formation, growth, and being made whole. As eternal beings, this takes time, intention, and faith. Any fool can get lost in the crowd. It takes a courageous soul to seek rhythms of solitude, daring to live an integrated life along the murmuring brook.
To all my fellow travelers, be encouraged! You are loved. Seek the One who loves you. “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love…” Zephania 3:17. This is the treasure that our souls seek, to be at rest in this life, not only in the next.
Footnotes: Citations taken from Kierkegaard’s “Purity of Heart is to Will One Thing,” pages 28-29, originally published in Danish 1847. Translation 2019 AC Beirise.
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