I remember my grandfather telling me that aboriginal peoples never wasted anything. When they killed an animal, every part of the animal was used for something. Skins for warmth. Meat for food. Fat for fuel. Bones for tools and weapons. Organs for medicine. Nothing was wasted.

For some reason this has stuck with me as a spiritual principle. I have gone through a lot of stuff on my religious and spiritual journey. I have hunted for my spirituality for half a century. Right now I feel I’ve successfully tracked my spiritual animal down. It’s in my sights.

A modern hunter’s instinct might be to just eat the meat and reject the rest as waste. For some reason I cannot, will not, do this. I look over the whole animal (my spiritual journey) and thoughtfully consider how everything I’ve experienced can be used. Some of the things I used to believe I no longer do. But I can see how believing that at that time got me to where I am today. Even though it’s not edible, like bone, the muscle could not have stood without it.

Our unique spiritual journeys are wondrous beasts. I will waste none of it.