[quote quote=432484]I like to start my day with a reading from Richard Wagamese – someone who having gone though much in his life came out the other side with wisdom. I read the following and felt it related to the question of the Divine and spiritual. What for me, lies behind a word like spiritual, path and divine is the word mystery and the art of sitting in mystery with wonder

“We need mystery. Creator in her wisdom knew this. Mystery fills us with awe and wonder. They are the foundations of humility, and humility is the foundation of all learning. So we do not seek to unravel this. We honor it by letting it be that way forever. – grandmother explaining The Great Mystery of the universe to her grandson.” ― Richard Wagamese, Indian Horse

I feel mystery is more important then the notions of meaning and purpose and suspect it is from mystery and the ability to be uncomfortable in uncertainty, that purpose and meaning arise from and returns to[/quote]

I agree it’s beneficial to have a sense of mystery. That’s why I’m always asking questions and reading books about subjects I am curious about.

How would you define a spiritual path?

It seems that a lot of supernatural concepts are difficult to define. In the past, humans used supernatural explanations to fill the gaps in our knowledge. There are things we can test and quantify to see what is alive and what isn’t. How do we test what cause is supernatural and what isn’t?

Finding meaningful work is something I struggle with. It’s a very uncomfortable topic that I dread. One reason I don’t like new interactions is because people usually ask about work right away. What I would say to initiate would depend on the person and what information they may have.

Thank you all for the feedback. I admit that I’m not in a great place mentally right now. Not gonna give up though.

I didn’t intend to dismiss you Hellcat. Sometimes I may not feel like answering every question put to me. A long time ago, I decided to live by my own rules. At times I did take that too far. For years, I sensed people were putting up with me to humor me. One of my convictions is not to do that to someone else. If I don’t think you’re funny, I wont laugh. If I didn’t enjoy the conversation, I might wish them a good day, but I wont say that it was great talking to them. Before I didn’t make as many compromises as I do now. The challenge is finding the balance and not feeling like a fraud.

That was the impression I had. I can see that this forum is used to longer posts and people like to give a lot of details about their lives. Writing long essays for my college courses is difficult enough for me. I don’t feel I’m obligated to respond a certain way and answer every question that has been asked. I mentioned to Hellcat, “Sorry if I didn’t answer all of your questions right now.”