Deep Dive Part 4
December 20, 2025
Deep Dive Part 4
A genuine deep dive into any exploration requires curiosity, courage, and challenge, but that’s not all. A fourth ingredient is comprehension— an intuitive grasp that deepens into complete understanding. The root of comprehension comes from the Latin prehendere, meaning “to grasp” or “to seize.”
Only by grasping our more profound experiences can we see their truths. If we do not understand what we experience, how can we discern whether to embody and apply them?
Deep dives such as special studies, pilgrimages, retreats, and focused inquiries reveal a wealth of information … some essential, some extraneous. Yet once we understand what has been revealed to us, we can discern what belongs within our growing wisdom.
A recent deep dive was a pilgrimage to Western Ireland made by several of us from ICB. Guided by Phil Cousineau, author of The Art of Pilgrimage, we explored ancient Celtic sacred sites. We immersed ourselves in the history, literature, and culture of Western Ireland, including the remote Aran Islands. We were not tourists; we were pilgrims on a spiritual quest. We each carried a personal intention shaped by our unique theology, spiritual formation, and our life’s questions. What we absorbed and comprehended was particular to our own souls’ needs.
But we could not incorporate it unless we considered the information and came to understand its relevance to our walk. Greater comprehension also takes expressing our experiences to others. In that way we sort out for ourselves much of what we need to embody. On the ICB pilgrimages, the magic happens in small groups at meals, but also in the larger group in the evening when we all process our day’s experience together. Voicing our experiences not only confirms our truths but helps us discern what will become part of our soul.
Each hike to an ancient fort, home, monastery, or holy site was accompanied by Phil's or local writers’ and historians' commentaries. The magic unfolded in the evenings, when our twenty-four-person group gathered to share reflections. No two people comprehended the same experience in the same way. While there were many common threads, what each found meaningful was filtered through the lens of personal history, ego type, soul type, Holy Idea, Virtue, and Passion. Proper comprehension takes time and the power of community helps us embody what we comprehend.
The 1969 comedy movie, If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium, captured the opposite spirit. It was a whirlwind journey, so rushed that travelers barely knew where they were. Life can easily become that way. We hurry from one experience to another without pause, losing our bearings. In such a rush, reflection and integration vanish. We forget to stop and see where we are … or who we are.
Spiritual practice: Take time for a personal pilgrimage, alone or with others. Set a spiritual intention before you begin. As you move through the experience, treat each moment as a sacred vignette to be comprehended. Listen to others’ reflections, journal your own, and note what you will embody from it. How do your “takeaways” differ from theirs, and why?
Self-inquiry: What helps you comprehend something as fully as possible?
Prayer:
May I slow my pace to grasp what is sacred in my experiences, to understand and embody the wisdom I encounter.
