A Different Kind of Journey

Sometimes the journey takes us down instead of up

I remember a time in my life when things were not going well, had not gone well for years, and I questioned the reason. Am I afraid of suffering? I asked myself. Am I afraid to face reality? Do I want that which cannot be?

Time, reflection, prayer and discernment proved  that the real problem was facing reality. I needed to move on, to accept my inabilities to live the life I had chosen, and step out into a different life. It proved challenging, but I finally accepted my responsibility and made the hard decision.

I think we all come to points like that in our lives. It doesn't have to be traumatic. It does involve serious decision making. We pray, we reflect, we seek advise. Ultimate, we have to make the decision.

Perhaps the difficulty comes from expecting life to follow some sort of norm. Even though we are scripture people, we tend not to read the gospels very deeply, for Jesus portrays anything but! Yet, in our active, engaging and hectic lives, we do seek for stability. The life of a pilgrim looks wondeful on paper, but is not so romantic in reality.

Reality. That's a huge issue. It has to tie in with what we believe, how we seek, and what our values are.  Sometimes accepting reality can be as hard as my ordeal was, one consisting of a total change of careers. But once you begin accepting reality, you begin a different kind of journey, one with more heart and soul than you had before.

You live on a different plane, one deeper and more aware of your destiny. You begin to be less afraid of fear, and strengthened in making hard choices. You find yourself not looking for peace, but for your calling, for fulfillment in the stage of meaningful living, for God. Because your concept of God has changed, and you know he can be reached, he can be touched, he can be taken at his word.