so if I redouble my efforts, I may be able to batter it down.
But that is a dangerous temptation. When I resist way
closing rather than taking guidance from it, I may be
ignoring the limitations inherent in my nature-which
dishonors true self no less than ignoring the potentials I
received as birthright gifts.
As Ruth taught me, there is as much guidance in way that
closes behind us as there is in way that opens ahead of us.
The opening may reveal our potentials while the closing
may reveal our limits-two sides of the same coin, the coin
called identity. In the spiritual domain, identity is coin of the
realm, and we can learn much about our identity by
examining either side of the coin.
As often happens on the spiritual journey, we have
arrived at the heart of a paradox: each time a door closes,
the rest of the world opens up. All we need to do is stop
pounding on the door that just closed, turn around-which
puts the door behind us-and welcome the largeness of life
that now lies open to our souls. The door that closed kept its
from entering a room, but what now lies before its is the rest
of reality.
That paradox takes me back to Pendle Hill and the
moment when Ruth taught me the meaning of "way
closing." As I sat there fretting about the doors that had
slammed in my face, I was sitting in the very place where
my world would soon open wide.
Had I been able to see my own future at that moment, I