Inside Passage
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you;”Genesis 12:1 NASB
Go forth– We who travel this path toward God need to remember how it began. It began with a man called to an unknown destination. It began with instructions to go inside toward transformation. It began by simply starting. All the rest of the journey emerged and evolved along the way. We could call it “Destination Unknown.”
Recently I have been encouraged by Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg’s insights into Abraham’s journey. If you have taken up this journey, you may find her words encouraging too.
“ . . . the process of journeying to a destination unspecified. The effect of deferring essential information is—strangely—to make [Abraham’s] destination more precious. He will travel without the support of prior knowledge, in a sense without solid ground under his feet. The land that God will show him will first live in his imagination.”[1]
“In imagination, one apprehends an infinitude where the eventual disclosure can lodge. When God, therefore, launches Abraham on a journey ‘to the land that I will show you,’ He both tantalizes him and endows him with an experience of mystery.”[2]
“The Zohar brings us back to the lekha, offering an alternative translation: ‘Travel in order to transform yourself, create yourself anew.’ At its simplest, lekh lekha translates: ‘Travel—to yourself.’ Not to the present, resident self—but to the self of aspiration, the perhaps unimagined self. At one level, it is Abraham’s difference from others that God invokes and provokes; but mostly, it is his difference from himself. God mobilizes an aversion in Abraham to the conformities of his world, which, at this initial stage, is his own conformity. An uncanny process is under way; drawn beyond himself, he is to transfigure that self. As a result of that process, Abraham will evolve a different way of seeing.”[3]
“This process is, essentially, a private one: lekha emphasizes a personal transfiguration.”[4]
“ . . . many years of work go into learning to see what stands before our eyes.”[5]
“In Abraham’s journey, this element [of surprise] is continually released by the unknown-ness of his destination: it will be shown him, he will become visible. In a sense, he will never arrive: ‘the land that I will show you’ is the name of his destination, that place of infinite desire.”[6]
Certainly there are times when we don’t know where we are going, both in terms of outward destination and inward transformation. That only means we are closer to the father of the faith, Abraham, who experienced both journeys at the same time. This movement toward an unknown place is particularly uncomfortable for us because we have been taught to be in control. We think that traveling without a goal is a sure sign of deficiency. But perhaps we have forgotten that God is the only One Who actually knows where we are going, and the rest of this journey is based entirely on trust.
Would you really want it any other way?
Topical Index: Genesis 12:1, lekh lekha, Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg
[1]Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg, The Murmuring Deep: Reflections on the Biblical Unconscious, p. 137.
To lekha to a new place you not only have to physically change locations, but leave your “self” behind. If we fail to ‘grow when we go’ it may be because we hold too tightly to the paradigm of the past and still reside mentally in the comfortable conformity of the community we left. That was Abraham’s main problem and his lesson to us. Best if our physical leaving and our mental/spiritual lekah is done all at once; however gradually can work, though it takes longer and is more painfull. This bifurcation seems to be our modus operandi, but not by design. Yeshua’s most repeated command to “forsake all” was not an invitation into vows of poverty, but a pathway to the promised land of becoming new beings free from the constraints of our old constitution. It is the lesson of the parables of not putting new wine in old skins and sewing new patchs on old garments. The lesson can be seen in the dried bones buried under the sand of those who left in joy on the first Passover in the exodus from Egypt. It can be tasted in the salt of Lot’s wife. It’s voice can be heard in the stories of Abraham’s long travels and many travails…and in ours too. I suspect it is never too late to un-bifurcate. Forsaking all and the cross appear to be the keys to the crossover. Sadly, I am still a “rich young ruler” in the Ur of Chaldees.
Travel — to yourself. Come, follow me. I am the way..
“Best if our physical leaving and our mental/spiritual lekah is done all at once”
Michael,
You have no idea how much of what you say resonates with me and my journeys into the “unknown.” Three times, the first to Europe for 17 years, the second to return to Ontario for 18 years, followed by my “retirement” sojourn to the East coast for 12 years. Each a step into the unknown and yet each one very much a step that led “somewhere.” Better.
Little did I know that “retirement” would lead to the most enjoyable 10 years of my career….. .and then, out of the blue the biggie, Skip, TW and my quest for truth for the past 7 years. One day at a time. Thanks all for being part of it.
To let go the rope tying us to the security systems of the world willingly – that rope that we still believe is holding us up – goes against all we think we have learned in the past, for the world has its own peculiar system of punishments and rewards to keep us ‘trained’. We also insist on ‘knowing’ (the world’s substitute for trust in God, as it allows for trust in our own judgment) before we choose; therefore, to keep us blind to the future is the only way to break not only the hold the world has on us, but also the hold of our own sense of ‘control’. This breaking is a form of repentance from these substitutes for trust in God, and is essential before we can even get to a place where it is possible to put our trust in Him.
The day I realized that all the above had failed me completely was the day I first faced the underlying terror that had been driving me toward the false comforters all along. I couldn’t face it for even one minute! My first attempts to really trust God in the real places I needed to trust Him were all terror-filled experiences, but it was not terror of Him: it was terror I already had been suppressing but had to face to get to the place in myself I had to go.
For me, the journey toward God has been a journey toward my own deepest terrors; all of which have to be replaced for they are substitutes for the fear of the Lord. We can never experience the love that casts out all fear unless and until we become willing to hand over those fears that the god of this world instilled in us. (Now where DID I bury that stuff in my psychic back yard?)
Terrors really does describe the feeling when you turn your face into the unknown. In some senses it is similar to walking into darkness or a void. Those first few steps of uncertainty before we turn back and run like hell (oops!). And yet, to wake up and face it again. I see it as, (due to our human nature) we want to leave breadcrumbs along the way, in case we want to return?!? Maybe we spend a lot of time contemplating the venture of faith without actually doing it. Similar to what Skip talks about in regards to Greek and Hebrew ways of living. We are good “talkers”
and not so good “doers”. Reminds me a bit about the story of Peter walking on the water toward Jesus. The initial putting his legs over the edge of the boat….
We look for a million ways to follow without it costing ….. silly human! Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and ….. you see, there I am “talking” again. Die? Do you mean I have to die? Who will deliver me from the body of this death?!?
Breadcrumb analogy is so true!!!!
Good word Skip. And I can totally agree with the aspect of being on a new/different adventure with the Lord that only He knows what’s going to happen.
Some beautiful quotes to linger over and inspire us at table tonight! Thanks Shabbat Shalom!
Thank you to all of you, up to this point. The Journey so it seems to be parallel to the ways of this world naturally but the destination is so different,. It causes one to walk by faith and not by sight. It is to be righteous in God’s eyes and not the eyes of the world. To be encouraged by those who walk the same walk. The Abraham did not have any or not many to trust in. It was the voice of the Lord, giving only promises he could fulfill.
The imaginations of Abraham and each of us, is the first
frontier of our spiritual journeys. It’s where God’s kingdom
resides. And the only way we can discover it, is by faithfully
moving forward. Underneath all that this world has put on us,
lies our true essence as God originally designed us to be.
I love how Melchizedek suddenly enters Abrams life story
with zero fanfare and untold credentials. But his WORDS
give him away: “Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High,
who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Gen 14:19-20
That’s all Abram needed to hear. From that moment on, Abram
KNEW his journey was in the Hands he could truly trust. And off
he went, stepping closer to his true self as he boldly walked away
from this world. We all know this journey well.
Dang…. all the mental levels in this post! My very first trek to Israel was with someone who worked with Ray Vander Laan and they “do tours” differently…. you NEVER know where you’re going, but you “follow the Rabbi without question” and listen. THIS IS THE HARDEST THING TO DO! We do demand to be in charge. This set up gave me such anxiety but I grew so much from it….. following without knowing? I’m such a Westerner- Oy- however, I feel this transformation, too, as I take my own journey (I’m sure we all do) and it is just as frightening…. thanks for this very post (and everything else you do Skip). I really do want to be in-step with G-d, but it’s so hard not knowing what’s around the corner. Brace myself? Relax? Prepare! Says my girl scout self….. traveling without goals is a sign of trust. I guess it’s myself I don’t trust either….