life: the journey

Life is a journey. New chapters are constantly being written, the beginnings and ends unknown until they arrive and pass us by. Our lives are a sequence of scenes and acts, in which we are actors and actresses, each working together to the masterpieces we are writing—on an individual, communal, and global scale. Each scene is laced with foreshadowing we cannot perceive, mysteries we cannot understand, and each scene gives rise to the next. Our lives are comedies, dramas, soap operas, and thrillers. Each of our stories is filled with surprise twists and turns, leaving us outside the realm of control over our own destinies. I have come to view my life as a story. As I look back through all the years I’ve walked on this earth, I come to view my life as an unfolding epic where new actors are born, where nobodies become stars, and where the future hangs in the balance in my decisions here-and-now. There are high points. There are low points. There are beginnings and endings. There are detours, short-cuts, long-cuts, and dead-ends. There are times when life is going at a lightning-fast pace and I can barely hold on; and at other times, life plods slowly along, like a giant dinosaur ambling aimlessly. There are times I want to weep, times I want to laugh; time when I am filled with energy, vigor, and passion; and times when I want nothing to do but curl into a fetal position and cry myself to sleep. In all of the events of my life, in the good and bad, I am being transformed. I am being molded and shaped, by both my life experiences and by God. At times it feels like nothing is happening; but as I look back on the past, I can see how I have grown, matured, and developed. And I can see that God really did know what He was doing. I’m not sure what the future holds. I’m not sure if I want to know what the future holds. Some days trusting God continues to be a struggle; other days, it comes easy. In the end, we all must do what Tim recommended so long ago: “Just sit back and enjoy the ride.” It’s a wild, crazy, unpredictable ride, with tragedies and heartbreakers, with thrills and excitements. We never know what’s around the next curve.