From Egypt To The Promise: Pilgrimage Journey, Healing As A Choice

A month ago, I had a conversation with my friend that has lingered in my psyche.

A conversation that put into perspective some missing pieces... and has undoubtedly become the inspiration for this blog post.

Our conversation circled around healing as a choice. Shedding people and things that no longer serve us.

And peaking its head was the metaphysical story of the children of Israel trodding through the wilderness toward the Promise.

A story that has been told for several ages.

We are told that the movement of the Israelites from Egypt toward the Promise was one of rebellion and victory, coupled with toil, peril and moments of doom.

But this time, when we talked about it, I saw it through a whole new lens.

Beloved, I am about to offer you my new meaning of this story:

Picture it...

A people enslaved for generations.

Generations had now been born who knew Egypt as the standard.

A place of pain.

Anger. Captivity. Torment.

The very idea of something different may have seemed almost foreign to a people whose consciousness had been shaped by bondage.

Then one day, a deliverer is sent.

A man who challenged the status quo.

Sent by the Most High as a medium of liberation.

Moses was tasked with leading Israel out of Egypt and toward the Promised Land.

What should have been a journey of days became a journey of years.

And I began to ask myself:

Why?

Disobedience.

Scarcity.

The shadow.

Fear.

Ego.

These became some of the things that prolonged the journey.

And this is where I began to see myself in the story.

There is no difference between the children of Israel and myself.

Their Egypt may have been a physical location.

And arguably, although I exist in a physical location as well...

the Egypt that I dwell in can also be a state of consciousness.

Just as the Israelites bore torment, anger and bitterness in their Egypt, so have I in past times.

I was held captive by my own mind.

Limiting beliefs.

Unforgiveness.

Anger.

Scarcity.

Insecurity.

And then, almost like a thief in the night...

almost like a sudden storm...

the calling of wisdom found me there.

There is a saying that when the student is ready, the teacher appears.

And the Master of the Universe, through the gracious gift of wisdom, found me.

And therefore, my journey from Egypt to the Promise began with healing as a choice.

A journey from a lower level of thinking and perception of myself and my reality.

A journey that should be short...

but can become excruciatingly long when I continually surrender to anger, pain, frustration, fear, ungratefulness and insecurity.

The wilderness, then, became something different to me.

It became the true test of consciousness.

The place where the shadow is faced.

You do not truly know that you possess something when all conditions are right. You know you possess it when adversity arrives...

and you still show up as the person you claimed to be when all the fruit was ripe.

The wilderness is where the shadow is confronted.

It is where the internal work becomes unavoidable.

Almost like Christ in the wilderness, it is a place of testing, discernment and preparation.

A place where one must carefully navigate the terrain and remain grounded on the journey toward the Promise.

And what is the Promise?

For me,

the Promise is a state of rest.

Balance.

An innate knowingness that regardless of how life rewards you in the ebb and flow of it all;

you remain confident.

Secure.

Rested.

Abundant.

Loved.

Worthy.

The Promise is not merely a destination.

It is the manifestation of my highest self.

And like the children of Israel, I must be obedient on this trod.

I must be true to my inner self.

I must learn not to complain and murmur when things do not unfold according to my expectations.

I must learn gratitude.

When manna is provided, I must recognize it as provision.

I must learn to be grateful regardless of how the blessing arrives. Because sometimes the wilderness does not look like deprivation.

Sometimes it looks like having enough...

but not having what you thought you were supposed to have.

And just like Moses,

if I am not careful,

I may never see the Promise.

Not because the Promise was nonexistent...

but because the person who began the journey may not be the person capable of entering it.

And perhaps that is one of the most profound lessons within this story.

Sometimes the people who begin the journey with you will not make it to the Promise with you.

The generation that left Egypt was not the generation that ultimately entered the Promised Land. And therefore, I must be wise about who I begin this journey with.

Some people are chapters in the book of the voyage.

Not the destination.

And if I am not careful,

I may die in the wilderness trying to convince someone else to leave Egypt.

Healing is a choice.

And not everyone will choose to heal.

Not everyone will choose to confront their shadow.

Not everyone will choose to evolve.

And I have to allow them to make that choice.

Not everyone will align with the frequency I am moving toward.

And I have to be humble enough to let them go.

Because the healed version of me cannot be responsible for dragging everyone into the Promise.

When one takes the first step onto the pilgrimage, I believe the Most High provides a medium.

A person.

Information.

An institution.

An experience.

Or perhaps even the simple gift of learning to trust oneself and one's intuition.

The vehicle may change.

The guide may change.

The teacher may change.

But the journey continues.

Moses was pivotal to the liberation of the Israelites.

He was the medium.

The vessel.

The tool through which the journey was initiated.

Yet Moses himself did not enter the Promised Land.

And that teaches me something about attachment.

We must remain open.

Not rigid.

Agile.

Flexible.

Humble.

We must be willing to outgrow even the things that helped us begin.

Because the person, philosophy, institution or experience that initiates your transformation may not be the thing that carries you through the entirety of it.

We are allowed to grow.

We are allowed to evolve.

We are allowed to change.

Just as the caterpillar enters its cocoon and emerges as something entirely different;

it had to become something else.

It had to shed.

And perhaps that is why the principle of detachment and the idea that as you come, so you go is so profound to me.

Because the truth is,

the way I am right now;

is not necessarily the way I will be when I reach the Promise.

And therefore, I must remain wise.

Humble.

Open.

Willing to shed.

Willing to evolve into the frequency of the person I desire to become.

The pilgrimage, then, is not merely movement toward a physical geographic location.

It can also be an inner transformation toward a sacred space.

And the sacred space is simply a deeper knowing.

A Divine union with the Most High.

A higher state of consciousness.

A place where I no longer need the external world to validate the internal transformation that has taken place. It is the journey from my place of comfort...

to face challenges,

to shed,

to be initiated 

and ultimately to become.

Perhaps that is why the wilderness is necessary.

Because Egypt is familiar.

The Promise is unfamiliar.

The jump into the unknown is terrifying 

And the wilderness is the bridge between the two. It is where the old identity is confronted before the new one can fully emerge.

Pilgrimages, across various spiritual traditions, are often understood through stages of separation, initiation and return. And I see the journey of the soul in much the same way.

Separation.

Separating from lower patterns.

Limiting beliefs.

Old identities.

Relationships.

Fears.

The things that once kept me comfortable but no longer allow me to grow.

Initiation.

Entering the wilderness.

Being recalibrated.

Being tested.

Meeting the parts of myself I would rather avoid.

Learning who I am when everything familiar has been stripped away.

And then...

Return.

Not as the person who left.

But as someone transformed.

Someone who has become acquainted with the depths of themselves.

Someone who has learned how to carry the Promise within before ever reaching it externally.

And perhaps this is what I am learning now 

Maybe the Promise was never simply a place I was supposed to arrive at?

Maybe the journey was preparing me to become someone who could finally recognize that I had arrived?

The wilderness is not punishment.

It is preparation.

Egypt was where I learned what I no longer wanted.

The wilderness is where I learn who I am.

And the Promise...

is where I finally learn how to live from it.

Healing is a choice.

And every day,

I choose again.

A 🧿🪶