Hearkening back to my much-loved early days of letter writing to penpals from across the globe, later letters to my geographically distant friends from summer camp, letters during my college years to my dearest ones over summer break, and finally the autumnal practice of writing Letters of Love to my beloved students as they embarked on their Senior Retreat, it is my hope to send you, the emerging Soulcare MKE community, a monthly Letter of Love.
These letters will ask you to consider:
snippets of daily happenings;
things I'm thinking about, praying with, and practicing in my own Soulcare; and
my wishes and longings for you.
These Letters of Love will be available for all members of the Soulcare MKE community... no paid membership is required! And you can always visit www.SoulcareMKE.com to Subscribe!
Treasure Maps: A practice of prayer for the spiritual journey
I have been in the practice of creating Treasure Maps for many years. Even before I knew there was a name for this prayer practice, these collages emerged from my soul.
This “emerging” from one’s soul is what makes a Treasure Map distinct from a vision board. Oftentimes, people make vision boards at the start of the New Year. They find words, images, or colors that represent their dreams, plans, visions, goals, and aspirations for the year ahead. Very frequently, people will display their vision board in a place where they can see it every day. This can be a helpful practice that enables a person to be reminded, daily, of one’s goals or aspirations for the year ahead.
A Treasure Map, on the other hand, is not planned. The creation of a Treasure Map is an experience of prayer. In this form of prayer, a person places oneself, and their desire to be led by God, into an open and receptive stance before the Spirit of God. They might ask for God’s Spirit to bring forth insight from their soul of which they are not yet aware; insight that will help guide them forward. As the person glances through magazines, catalogs, and mailings etc, they simply set aside words, images, or colors that capture their attention. They may not understand why. As a practice of creatively-based prayer, the experience of creating a Treasure Map can bypass one’s intellectual center and emerge directly from the heart. Then, as they continue to pray and begin to place these items onto a paper, wisdom will appear that will help guide them on their path moving forward.
Treasure Maps are often created in the springtime, perhaps around Easter, when the whole Earth and spiritual realm are bubbling with energy, the bursting forth of hidden growth, and signs of new life. Like a pirate’s Treasure Map, at the outset of our journey, we may not know the specific treasure to be found at its end. Perhaps we’ve heard tales of the goodness that we will find, but we can’t know for certain what we’ll discover. Often, it isn’t until long after the Treasure Map is displayed, and one has been praying with it every day, that an understanding of the map becomes clear. In staying close to one’s Treasure Map, and allowing its wisdom to unfold, we are better able to enjoy the adventure of the spiritual life!
Part of what I love about Treasure Maps is that they can provide a visual record of one’s spiritual journey! If you’d like to hear me share more about my journey with Treasure Maps, be sure to come back next week for my first Soulcare MKE video. And if you, or a group of which you are a part, would like to pray through the creation of Treasure Maps with an experienced guide, please let me know. The energy is rising! What will your Treasure Map reveal?!
Grateful to journey with you,
Laura
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"See, I am doing something new! Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?"
(Isaiah 43:19)
