In ancient Greece at Delphi above the entrance to the temple of Apollo were inscribed the words “Know thyself”. Delphi was considered the centre of the ancient world and the navel or womb of the world ( the word delphys means “womb”). In the innermost chamber of the temple sat the oracle. People came from all over ancient Greece to consult with the oracle and ask her a question. Great kings going to war would ask the oracle if they would they win or be defeated. The answer they got back from the oracle was often obscure and ambiguous. The effect of this ambiguity in the answer meant that people who consulted the oracle were then thrown back on themselves and asked to “know thyself” to get a clearer sense of what the answer to their question might be. When I am struggling to find a clearer answer to a unresolved question in my own life, I have found that being in relationship to the question, uncomfortable as this may be, and then allowing the answer to unfold and reveal itself to me has led to a deeper truth and an opening to life. I will leave you with the words of the poet Rainer Maria Rilke.
“Have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.”