This Sukkot: Seven Steps to Spiritual Openness

Sukkot, the Jewish holiday first mentioned in Leviticus 23:34 and known to Christians as Tabernacles, celebrates the desert journey from slavery to freedom taken by the Israelites. It also celebrates our own spiritual journeys and provides a way to make that journey with both genuine commitment and real openness. The sukkah, it turns out is not only a booth in which Jews, both ancient and contemporary spend time, It is also a metaphor for the spiritual structures that we build in our hearts.

So I ask you, how big is your sukkah? I am not talking about the physical dimensions of the hut. I am talking about the how expansive we can be in the range of people, ideas, and experiences that we invite into the chambers of our hearts.

The physical sukkah is defined by its permeable ceiling, suggesting that even those places, in which we take refuge from the hardships of life, remain at least partially open to that which remains outside. And what's true for the architectural walls of the sukkah is also true for the spiritual and intellectual walls which define our spiritual connections and faith commitments too. In fact, one tradition suggests that we venture out into the sukkah at precisely the time when the weather turns chilly, to demonstrate our inner strength and willingness to get in touch with the challenges around us rather than simply build barriers against them.

From the first journey in the desert to the ones we are each on today, the challenge lies in balancing the security and familiarity we all need, with the wisdom and insight that we find by opening ourselves to the ongoing journey and the questions that it brings. Sitting in the sukkah celebrates that balance.

Here are seven questions, one for each day of the holiday, which will help in that process.

1. What do you do that truly brings you joy and how can you make more space for that in your life?

2. When do you feel most spiritually connected and how can you strengthen that connection?

3. What big questions do you need to ask about the faith you follow?

4. What new ideas do you most want to learn in the coming year?

5. Who would you like to bring into your life and how will you invite them in?

6. What's the most important part of your own spiritual journey? Why?

7. What people, ideas, or practices that seem at odds with each other could be brought together so that EACH would learn something new?

These are the kinds of questions which propel our journeys forward, helping us to celebrate what we most love and empowering us to get in touch with those people and ideas which lie beyond wherever we stand right now. Celebrate the journey.