The Spirit Led Me to the TopMarch 10, 2025

“Let me keep my distance, always, from those

who think they have the answers.

Let me keep company always with those who say

‘Look!’ and laugh in astonishment,

and bow their heads.”

This excerpt from Mary Oliver’s poem “Mysteries, Yes” delights my spirit. When I was young I thought I had to find all the answers to the problems in my life. In doing that I would be happy and content. So I searched in many places, sought the company of wise souls, and read spiritual writers as well as self-help books. After all these steps were exhausted, one day I imagined that the Spirit led me to the top of a cliff and said, “Jump!”

I teetered on the edge for quite some time until I could trust this voice. To jump was to risk everything I clung to as the truth. To jump was to put my trust in uncertainty, in “not-knowing,” a scary place to live. In contrast, my eventual leap introduced me to a holy space where I could look and laugh, relax my grasp on needing to be right, and open my narrow vision into the splendor of amazement.

Most days now I am grateful that I jumped. I look for kindred spirits who bow their heads in the face of doubt and uncertainty, who value the beauty of the search. May God bless the travelers who accompany me into the realms of light and joy.

Sister Virginia DeVinne