My Way or the High Way?

From where comes guidance? How do I know I'm on the right path?  How do I navigate this life? These are the questions that continually arise for those of us who sincerely want to find and stay on our right and true path through the journey that is our life.

We love the dramatic stories where the way is made powerfully clear but who of us has seen a bush burst into flame with a voice that declares our mission, or the parting of a great body of water to reveal a way through difficulty, or a yellow brick road to lead us home? 

We can more easily relate to ambiguity in our experience; the wandering in the wilderness of possibility without certainty whether we are getting closer or farther from the high way. We can be frustrated by the absence of direction as if following Yogi Berra's advice when encountering a fork in the road, "take it!"

Jesus shared a story about a directionally challenged young man who followed his inner guidance only to end up steeped in human indulgence and miserable.  The prodigal son was sure he would find joy in the world. He followed his desire for a better life, convinced that it could be found somewhere beyond the homestead of here and now.  In the end, when he hit the skids, he realized his navigation error; that what he longed for was not in the world but back home.

We can all relate to this story because, at least spiritually, we've discovered the errancy of our guidance.  Many of us come to ourselves and realize that we've been looking for our happiness in all the wrong places, and the wrong faces.  Because this world is such a powerful opiate that dulls our spiritual sense of direction, this is a tough dysfunction to correct. Under the influence of this illusory world, we are convinced that something or someone will give us what we need.  When the quest does not pay off, we usually convince our self that a new something or new someone is the way to go.  Yet, no matter how many times we set out to find peace or fulfillment or love in the world, our journey is doomed to failure. It can be no other way.

That said, we still have to make choices in this world of form, decisions that affect our work, our relationships,  our finances, our future, and the question looms, how do we know what is the "right choice?"  Or is there such a thing as a "right choice?"  Some frame this conundrum as a matter of discerning God's will - the High way versus my way. In Unity, we understand God's will for his creation is "not of this world" but a pure desire to fully express Itself through Its creation. It then follows that our decision process must proceed from inside out. The high way of the Divine is marked with internal guideposts that show us the way. We get our bearings by first turning away from appearances, the allure of the phenomenal world, and take steps that lead us home. Whatever choice that brings us a greater experience or expression of the Divine is the high way for us. That choice that brings us peace, expands our heart, heightens creativity or authenticity or expresses love is the Wise way.

Such choices might mean unorthodox behavior according to conventional thinking. You might turn down the promotion, or invest at lower rate of return, leave the sure thing and go out on a limb. You may begin to see and invest in qualities and values which the world dismisses or discounts. By the world's economy it may have been a costly journey.  But having come this way, you will find yourself at home, and at peace, in your heart of hearts.