On Spiritual Maps, Wisdom from Malcolm Guite, and Walking a Path You Didn’t Know You Were On

A Note from Me

The Threefold Way has become my map—a map of spiritual country, a kind of geography of the soul, transformational terrain.

One of my favorite discoveries was the realization that I was already on the path these saints were describing. I didn’t need to know about it to experience it.

For example, I was already training with spiritual practices, albeit a little haphazardly. I was already in the throes of temptation, struggling with how to think about it. And I had already been puzzling over my affliction, questioning how anything good could come from it.

Again, I didn’t know any of this at the beginning of my journey. It wasn’t a prerequisite. But one of the great things about coming to know the Threefold Way is that it drew me into a more thoughtful rhythm of participation—not to achieve more, but to receive more.

And over time, the fruit of that grace began to show up in surprising ways.

All of this worked a special joy inside me—a joy in seeing myself a part of something larger. Of living into a great synthesis, a solidarity between saints—their footprints producing a path for mine.*

*From Chapter 1 of my forthcoming IVP book, Dwelling in Christ: Discover the Threefold Path of Spiritual Transformation

A Voice from the Christian Tradition

“’The map is not the reality,’ as the old Zen Masters used to say. We can get lost in our representations, we can mistake the image for the real thing; sometimes we just have to look up and be where we are in order to see where that is. This certainly applies to our Christian pilgrimage. It is very helpful to have the images, ideas, maps and drawings of other Christians to help us on our journey that is what tradition and community are for - but in the end it is no substitute for personal encounter and real presence, for looking up and being where we are with Christ.”

–Malcolm Guite, Word in the Wilderness

A Question to Carry

Can you recall a time when you were on a spiritual path without realizing it?

Still on the way,

–Jon