Tilling The Soil Of Being by William Klein

There’s an old maxim, “The answer is in the question.” Confucius said, “The one who asks a question is a fool for a minute.  The one who never asks a question is a fool for life.”

Sometimes the soil of our being gets hard from spiritual dryness.  We need to till the ground, pull the weeds of uncertainty and prepare the ground with seeds of our being for something fresh to take root. John O’Donohue noted, “The underearth is full of possibilities.” 

How do we till the soil of our being and dig deep to prepare the ground for seeding? A master mystic, O’Donohue was always tilling the soil to experience the world with a solid take on life. He looked at the world from the landscape of spiritual being and re-examining where we are planted and how we see the world.

Sometimes we’re stifled by our own inability to see where we need to go next. Rooting ourselves and grounding ourselves is imperative to discovering more about life. We root ourselves by examining sacred scriptures, reading the stories that engage us to new understanding, exploring the realm of observable fundamental facts. There are signs that point us to where we need to be in life if we take the time to examine them.

If we listen intently, there is a gentle encouragement to fulfill a higher call to explore life and follow your intuition in being who you’re called to be. It is listening to the call within, “the still small voice.”

We don’t think about it much but developing spiritually we also need to develop goals. They keep us honest in our spiritual pursuits. Some people are good at goal setting in getting what they want. I don’t know how good people are in spiritual goal setting and resetting themselves for the call of God. This is why a good spiritual director is important.

I love the start of a new year in school because there is always that opportunity to re-evaluate where I want to go spiritually. I set goals for the year professionally and personally, but also spiritually.

The ground of our being is in examining the questions we may have already asked. Working the questions is critical to helping the soil of our lives.

Spiritual Goal Setting:

What are your spiritual goals?

How are you reaching out to others?

Who do you think needs to be reached at this point in your life?

How can you reach out to God in assisting you in this venture?

Where are you stretching your boundaries?

Consider the following questions in how they may relate to your spiritual goals:

Discernable questions:

What are you open to?

What moves you the most right now?

What was the one thing you’ve always wanted to do?

What’s holding you back from doing it?

What is most important to you at this time in your life? Why is it important?

In relationships:

Where have I been unfair in my assessment of others?

Where can I assert more compassion and how can I address that?

Where have I limited my relationships and how might I be open to expanded interaction?

Where is the common ground in our relations with others with whom I disagree?

These are questions worth returning to again and again.