“How far I have to go to find you in whom I have already arrived.”
Life is a journey. This is not a new idea, but it is one that has become new to me and I have a new appreciation for it.
I am beginning to think that life is neither a marathon nor a sprint. I find that it is more a walk through the woods. There are times to be captivated by beauty, times where you may need to go back from where you have come to find healing, times where your feet may trip over the growth around you, times to speed up, and times to slow down. However, when walking through the woods, you continually arrive. You find a new perspective with every step forward and back, a new appreciation for the surrounding world. It is important to recognize this because it allows us to enjoy the path in front of us and better understand what we have left behind. Recognizing that the journey of faith is one of continuous arrival brings about a sense of gratitude that waters the seeds of hope and joy in our lives.
You may never know where you are going and you may never have a destination to reach and that is okay, because the journey of faith is a continuous arrival into the love of God. The further we go into the love of God, the more there is to learn about Him. We desire continuous affirmation in this age of interconnectivity, but yet we tend to disregard the one who desires to build us up the most. I tend to think that a nice walk with God and your thoughts can fix most of life's problems. Blaise Pascal can back me up on this (or maybe I am backing him up?). Getting away from the noise in life teaches an appreciation of the beauty in the smallest of victories. It allows our thoughts to run free and for us to face the roadblocks that we perceive to be in the way of true, meaningful change.
I think that finding time to give thanks for the beauty of arrival that takes place in ordinary life brings about a new appreciation for the journey of life. It leads to the discovery. It leads to love and grace. It means there is hope with each new day.