For this bit of wisdom, we have to travel to central Spain.
Picture a land of extremes.
Hot, dry summers and cold winters. Rocky, hard soil.
Imagine what it would be like to farm this land.
How would you manage watering crops in such scorching summer heat?
Time to Meet a Saint
And what if you lived in the time of the Inquisition, say in 1550?
Could you manage tending your fields with that fierce storm of politics and religion hovering over you?
I’d like to introduce you to one of my favorite nuns of all time, a true spiritual genius.
I’ve honed my meditation skills over 27 years and am proud of the effort and focus I’ve put into it, but . . . my skills pale in comparison to the insight, wit, and political-savvy of Santa Teresa de Ávila.
Much has been written about Saint Teresa* so here I want to share just one example of her wisdom.
She once described the spiritual path as unfolding in four distinct stages, and yes, the following is one of the inspirations for my framework, 4 Stages to Peace.
But I can’t beat the farming metaphor she used.
Haul Those Buckets
In the beginning of our spiritual journey, the 1st Stage, it’s like the river is a mile away, and you have two buckets.
To water your crops (grow your inner peace) you’d better get walking and hauling. You can imagine how much hard work it is to get just a little water to your seedlings. Don’t let the water slosh out of the buckets on your way back to the crops!
If you’ve ever struggled with meditation or prayer, or you’ve gone through chaotic periods in your life, then you know what this stage is like.
Thankfully, it doesn’t last forever.
Because you realize or someone tells you, why not install a water pump close to the crops? You don’t have to walk to the river anymore! But you’re still filling and hauling buckets. That’s Stage 2.
Then . . . wait a minute.
What about irrigation canals? It’s a lot of work to dig them out, and sometimes they get jammed up with debris but . . .
Flow
In the 3rd Stage, you don’t need to do much work at all. The irrigation canals provide a steady flow of water to your crops.
AKA what it feels like to have inner peace.
Grace
And in the 4th Stage, rain falls naturally. Zero work for you.
When I show people my stages for the first time, they often get fixated on Stage 4 and ask, “How do I get there?”
But I tell them not to worry about Stage 4.
It takes care of itself. Like rain.
What we’re really going for is Stage 3 - balance.
Like in the metaphor, we can only control what we do on the ground. We can do the work on ourselves it takes to build inner “irrigation canals” but we can't force the clouds to rain.
Yes, moments of grace or wisdom do suddenly pop up, and they can radically alter how we live. In a good way.
But if you’re just waiting and wishing for rain, your crops will wither. You do need to do some maintenance work to water them, and it’s the same for peace.
If it’s felt like you’re hauling water buckets for miles, uphill both ways, just remember that’s a phase that will end.
Eventually you’ll learn the inner skills that create ease and flow, just like an irrigation canal.
So for now, reflect on this metaphor.
Reflection Qs:
Which stage of this farming metaphor have I been in recently?
Am I working on building irrigation canals, or letting my crops wither as I wait for rain?
Thanks for some of your precious time and attention today! Please reply with any comments or questions.
In peace,
Juniper
Acknowledgements
This email and video came from Montana, on the ancestral lands of the Bitterroot Salish, the Pend d’Oreille, and Kootenai First Nations. All words and images by Juniper McKelvie.
Desert photos from Colorado (not Spain), on the ancestral lands of the Yamparika and other Ute First Nations.
4 Stages concept and design concept by Juniper McKelvie. Crafted by Kiana Hamel.
*The farming metaphor was described in Teresa of Avila: The Progress of a Soul by Cathleen Medwick, 2001
