I have an idea for a travel adventure in the spirit.

Buy a Greyhound "discovery pass" ($650 provides for 60 day passage on any Greyhound or participating bus line across the US and into parts of Canada and Mexico). To economize, never stay in hotels and for food, limit purchases to fruit and bread. Take tea bags to be served up at stops in complementary hot water in a travel mug. Nights are on the bus. Days within walking distance of the bus stop, with ample sitting on benches (Tolle style). Do Centering Prayer twice daily. Be open to encountering strangers if they have need of a listening heart. Or be quiet. Do not go out of your way to meet familiar people, but if they see you on a bench or somewhere, great. Travel solo, but wearing a wedding band, a symbol of my invisible partner, who is gracious enough to encourage the adventure. Keep a journal. Take a change of clothes to be laundered every week or so. Wash privates in bus bathroom or other bathroom daily. Go in the winter and be thankful for not too hot weather for reduced body odor.

Your response welcome.

I tried something very similar when I was 19, Ryan. Very rewarding experience but I'm too fond of my own bed these days to give it another go.

Oh, I am so tempted! Lately I've just wanted to run away from all of my responsiblities and get lost in God. I had in mind a long stay in a quiet hermitage, but I like your idea, too.

I can identify with the vagabond spirit, but sleeping on a bus and wearing the same clothes for a week doesn't appeal much. I also like good meals.

I'd be much more inclined to hike the Appalachian trail, or make my way around Europe dropping in on the many hostels there.

I think what's showing up here is the deep longing of the human spirit for freedom. Compensatory musings tend to become especially enticing when we're feeling stuck or trapped. How to regain one's sense of inner freedom where one is here and now? That is the challenge.

quote:

Originally posted by Phil:
[qb]How to regain one's sense of inner freedom where one is here and now? That is the challenge. [/qb]

Can you expand on that, Phil?

I slept in a train station in Paris, a beach in Malaga, a park in Barcelona, a tiny room with 8 Brazilians in Rome. By the time I got to Naples I opted for a night in a youth hostel. I didn't wash for a month, wore the same clothes, matted my hair in dreadlocks. Luxury!

Just recently I discovered Jack Kerouac. It's all about that yearning for freedom. Still freedom in Christ is freedom indeed. From sin, from death, the flesh, the old entrenched mind, the world. And I don't need to run away to experience it. Glorious freedom!!

"Freedom is freedom from the need to be free" - George Clinton/Funkadelic.

quote:

Originally posted by HeartPrayer:
[qb]

quote:

Originally posted by Phil:
[qb]How to regain one's sense of inner freedom where one is here and now? That is the challenge. [/qb]

Can you expand on that, Phil? [/qb]

Sort of like the quote Stephen shared above. One is free when one accepts that the life one is actually living is where one needs to be now, and that in any given circumstance, one can choose one's attitude toward it. God is with us in every moment, and if God is our joy, then changing the outer circumstances of our lives in order to find "happiness" is not so urgent.

Of course, nothing wrong with dreaming . . . fantasizing . . . letting one's inner longings point to next steps . . .

Hey, everyone,
I always wonder where people are when they dissappear from the board for awhile, so I'm officially saying good-by for 2 weeks. My husband and I are going down to sourthern Belize to check out possible mission/ministry opportunities for the future. I thought this was an appropriate thread to post this on, since we're going to be part of "the great unwashed" for awhile, traveling very light by local bus (converted school busses down there) and staying in a small Mayan village in the mountains for awhile. We're VERY excited, but also ask for prayers for a safe journey. One leg of the trip is by small prop plane,and I'm nervous as a cat.
Revkah