There is a folk tale of an aboriginal tribe that runs great distances. They run for days on end. Then, for no apparent reason, they stop. When asked why, they respond, “To let our souls catch up with us.”

To let our souls catch up with us. That voice, little at first in the din of busy life, that builds and builds until it almost shouts, “Stop the bus!” That craving for gentleness, grace, beauty, peace – not apart from the world, but in the world, every day. That desire to be the best version of ourselves, which we know is there, underneath a few layers of “it’s gotten complicated.”

This past year has been a journey of letting my soul catch up with me. I had a sense early on in the year that was the mission, but the collection of experiences, readings, learnings, and discoveries was happenstance. With wonder, I watched one lead in close connection to another in surprising ways – stars align, grace happens, we discover “God in all things”. Enough dear friends have smiled at the thought of letting their souls catch up with them that I suspect the following might be of use to some.

Notably, “curriculum” suggests a linearity that is completely misplaced here. Reveling in life’s twists and turns is actually an important part of letting our souls catch up with us – so much of the rest of life tells us to be on a path, to solve problems in specific ways, to climb, to “progress”… and yet, richness emerges when we look around, take in different thoughts, make new friends, eliminate the ego of the climb.

Yet, “curriculum” also implies activity and intentionality, which are critical. Our souls do not catch up on their own if we keep running ahead. What is below are all different types of experiences that we can intentionally bring into our lives by seeking out beauty, making community happen, and learning. Hopefully they provide some inspiration.

Seek out beauty
Have you ever watched a thunderstorm hit dry, parched land? The water runs off quickly. But a gentle, soft rain pervades the soil, making it fertile for growth. The following are gentle and beautiful pauses that can soften the soul. Whether these appeal to you or you find others, make time to soak in beauty.

Ghibli films – The Japanese animator and story teller, Hayao Miyazaki, creates artistically beautiful movies with gentle, deep stories. You leave feeling simple delight.

Wisdom tellers – Very special writers can speak of matters of the soul in ways that could be no other way once we have read them – they capture in words what lies in our hearts, even when that seems counter-cultural. One of the best examples of this must be Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s The Little Prince. More current authors could be John O’Donohue (To Bless the Space Between Us), David Brooks (The Road to Character), Brian McLaren (The Great Spiritual Migration).

Nature – Wendell Berry writes of “The Peace of Wild Things”: “For a time, I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.” The soaring peaks or the minuteness of a wildflower or the sound of the ocean have a way of making us feel part of something much larger than ourselves. Some particularly awe-inspiring US options: the Redwoods, Glacier National Park, the Grand Tetons, the ocean (just about anywhere).

Music: We all have our go to music – often we make the “Power up” playlist, but we should also make that “Gentle” playlist too. And if we are so inclined, we can mix up the genres to remind ourselves that beauty comes in many flavors. Mine includes Alison Krauss, Johnny Cash’s last album, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Leonard Cohen, Waylin’ Jennies, Lyle Lovett, Pink Floyd’s “On the Turning Away”, Hamilton, and a little Springsteen

Make community happen
One of the most enlivening joys can be connecting more deeply with people – new friends and old friends and old friends in a new light. Drop that note, make the invite, accept the outreach – it never fails to renew and grow us. Here are some starter ideas that generate gifts of community :

Social justice “actives” – We can be thankful for activists, people who courageously put themselves “out there” to shake things up and call out what needs to change. For letting our souls catch up, the quieter work of “actives” can work magic – people who have been dedicated to a place, or an issue, or a set of people for decades; who have a long-term perspective; who work day in and day out to make each day a bit better. What is magical about these folks is that they have found hope to sustain their work; they are joyfully energetic; they will share that gladly with anyone who asks; and they are everywhere, if we look.

World Affairs Night – Think book club, but diving into a topic going on in the world, with three questions: What are the facts and history? How does this link to other topics? What personal perspective can we each bring to the topic? In other words, creating a community with whom we can engage in the world at a deeper level than 140 characters.

Spontaneous discussions of faith – We can know someone for a decade, and then trip into a discussion of faith that launches the friendship into a new realm. Or a new friend can become a close friend in an instant when we hit on a shared aspect of faith. These conversations take space, but if an opening through a shared book, or a question, or an invitation to a worship service, or the story of a trip creates an opening, go there – gently, but go there.

Friends and family – What simplicity we feel when we are with people for whom neither our accolades nor our barnacles are particularly relevant in their love for us. For so many of us scattered away from our home towns, these encounters take some extra thought to create. But in them, we find comfort, encouragement, challenge. I cherish Friday nights at our lifelong friends’ house, when the kids are playing and the guitars come out. Just as magical are the impromptu “You are here too?!” Facebook messages that turn into brunch in a city foreign to both of us. And the gatherings of extended family that find new forms in new places, yet always remind us that family love is uniquely special. And the trips we plan to see high school or college friends, which never really fit perfectly into life, but always, always return us to our life as more perfect versions of ourselves.

Learn
How we engage our minds can play a big part in the openness of our souls. New ideas, historic context, different cultures, and well-honed counter arguments all serve to enrich us, and particularly to influence the eyes through which we see our next, new experiences. Here are some though-provoking pieces and experiences that might be of interest. Or find others to let your mind work in new ways or on new topics.

Read – What a treat it is to find works that go into real depth and from multiple perspectives. For example, Evicted, by Matthew Desmond, is not an easy read, but it is the rare issue book that draws you into the lives of “characters” (real people) while illuminating all sides of a fundamental aspect of society (housing). In a magazine format, The Economist provides the depth of insight allowed by a week’s worth of preparatory thinking and long form articles, rather than the few hours or minutes and short snippets that most of our media devote.

Travel – Any travel that allows us to see more than the inside of a conference room offers opportunities to learn. Road trips are particularly good for letting the soul catch up, often giving long stretches of quieter time and uninterrupted vistas. We get to see places and ways people live that are impossible to really experience otherwise. And somethings may surprise us. For example, city life gives us little expectation of the hundreds of wind farms we will see on a cross-country drive. Or suddenly 6-7 hour drives seem short as we marvel at the vast expanses of land that make up much of our country.

Dip our toes into something new – If we drop the need to be an expert at every turn, our souls can feel the fun of learning something new and marveling at the knowledge and brilliance of others in other fields. Maybe it is an article written for someone not in that particular field – for example, the Economist‘s “Reflections on the fine-structure constant” brings to life for those of us who are not astro-physicists the awe-inspiring ways our universe is fine-tuned to support life. Or it is taking a class in a skill we lack (e.g., cooking, photography), which often is a gift that keeps on giving as we make new friends in the process and then delight others in the future with our new skill. Or it is trying our hands at creating something artistic like a poem or sketch or story. With all respect to Master Yoda, it is sometimes ok to just try.

Letting our souls catch up with us. John O’Donohue captures this all so well in his poem:

You have traveled too fast over false ground;
Now your soul has come, to take you back.
Take refuge in your senses, open up
To all the small miracles you rushed through.
Become inclined to watch the way of the rain
When it falls slow and free.
Imitate the habit of twilight,
Taking time to open the well of color
That fostered the brightness of day.
Draw alongside the silence of stone
Until its calmness can claim you.

In my simpler words: Seek beauty. Make community happen. Learn. A curriculum of sorts to let our souls catch up with us, to prepare us anew for the world we want to embrace.