Befriending Uncertainty: Learning to Live in the "Not Yet"
Living Compass Spirituality and Wellness Podcast
About This Episode
This episode is a follow-up to last week's reflection on the Quaker wisdom phrase "Way Will Open." If we're going to trust that way will open, what do we do in the meantime? How do we learn not just to live with uncertainty, but to actually befriend it?
Scott explores this question through the lens of both Christian and Buddhist wisdom, and through the surprising insight that befriending uncertainty works much the same way as being a good, patient friend.
In This Episode
The Jeff Foster quote that anchors this reflection: "Leave everything undefined, including yourself. Befriend uncertainty. Fall in love with mystery. Kneel at the altar of not knowing. Give your questions time to breathe. And the answers will find you."
The Christian tradition of actively waiting on the Spirit — not passive, but attentive and expectant
How the way we hold space for an anxious friend is the same posture we need with our own uncertainty
The Buddhist practice of beginner's mind — approaching even familiar situations as if for the first time
Scott's experience as a therapist: "I've never heard this story before"
The compass as a tool for reorientation — not a guarantee, but a way back to true north
A Practice to Carry With You
This week, try approaching one conversation, one relationship, or one unresolved situation with beginner's mind. Set aside what you think you already know, and simply listen — to the other person, or to your own heart — as if you're hearing it for the first time.
We don't so much find the answers as we make space for the answers to find us.
Resources
📱 A guided meditation on this theme is available in the Living Compass app — search Living Compass in your app store or visit app.livingcompass.org
📧 Reach Scott at scott@livingcompass.org
🌐 Learn more at livingcompass.org
Living Compass is a nonprofit spirituality and wellness initiative helping tens of thousands of people walk toward greater wholeness through the integration of faith and well-being.
(Click the player at the top of the page to listen to this podcast episode.) You can also find this podcast in your favorite podcast app—Apple, Google, Spotify, etc. Search for Living Compass, and be sure to subscribe so you get new episodes automatically.