Articles

The Lonely Path

By Ann Conlon

Walking the path back to God is basically a lonely activity, primarily because it has to be.

Nobody else is going to push us along, or take us by the hand and lead us, except for Meher Baba. Of course, we find companions along the way: family and friends, maybe mentors. But they are temporary in each lifetime. We meet them, we relate for a while, we love them for a while, but always we then go on alone, simply staying as close to Meher Baba's heels as possible.

However, in my mind, there's "lonely" and then there's "Lonely." The "lonely" path is, I think, one where we do feel cut off from what we want the most, the company of others. So we spend a lot of time accumulating companions on the journey because it isn't something we particularly want to do without company. Sometimes we and our companions move along at a good clip; other times I expect we slow down, get distracted, even turn around and head backwards for a while. Running parallel to the "lonely" path is the "Lonely" path, one where the only companion is Meher Baba Himself and we are essentially individualist, solitary travelers, moving along at His speed, without distraction, without pause. I don't know if one is to be preferred over the other; there are probably "seasons" associated with each one.

How do we choose which path we'll take? I expect many of us alternate -- jumping back and forth between "lonely" and "Lonely" -- until eventually Meher Baba grabs us, yanks us onto "Lonely" for one last time and pushes us the last few yards into the Light.