With God, Every Time is the First Time

The summer season is upon us and vacation plans are probably already made. No doubt many of you will be taking interesting journeys. Some of these journeys will have attributes of rites of passage. For instance, if you are taking your young children or grandchildren abroad for the first time, that is a marker in the shared experience of your family and, as such, is a rite of passage.

In his book The Rites of Passage, Arnold van Gennep notes, “There is a popular saying that only the first time counts; it is an interesting fact that this idea is truly universal and that it is expressed to some extent through special rites.” So are you planning any rites to mark your first-time familial events?

It might not be a good idea to engage in strange rituals in this tense day and age. That could provoke a rite of passage with Homeland Security that would probably be best avoided. However, do keep a quality of attention with you on your journeys, so you can mark, inwardly at least, new experiences and ideas that can strengthen family ties through sharing and deepen your self-understanding.

On the journey through the material world, van Gennep is right—the first time counts because we can only do it for the first time. Giving birth, being baptized or confirmed, visiting a country you’ve never been to before, going through a Rite 13 ceremony, hiking in the Grand Tetons—experiences like these can only happen for the first time only once.

Fortunately this limitation of the material world does not apply to our inward spiritual journeys. Jelaluddin Rumi had this take on it:

We take long trips.
We puzzle over the meaning of a painting or a book,
when what we’re wanting to see and understanding
in this world, we are that.

You can only have one first trek up the Pyramid of the Moon in Teotihuacan, Mexico. Once on top of the pyramid and looking out over the expanse, you might begin to feel a mystical connection with the world around you. The second trek up the pyramid, you might have an expansive feeling again. The inward, spiritual journey is not limited by material standards. In each moment the Divine mingles with you and calls you to a deeper awareness of the solution of the puzzle Rumi speaks about. The Divine comes to us in fresh, new ways even when we repeat old journeys or old experiences.

In the expansive moments your summer adventures bring, be sure to take a moment and offer your attention. There is no need of elaborate ritual, only awareness of the Divine mingling with you and your loved ones in a special moment on the beach, on the mountain trail, in the museum or art gallery. Drink deep of that moment and unravel even more the puzzle that is you.

Joel t