Mary Oliver is one of my favorite all time poets. Several of her poems move me to tears, and one of them is The Journey.
Where are you now? Are you feeling content and happy, or confused and sad? Wherever you are, you are not alone. God is with all of us, no matter what our confused brains begin to tell us... And yet, that does not guarantee any one of us, a peaceful pain free life.
It is my belief that being a follower of Christ- a "Christian" is indeed a lifelong journey. It requires us to stretch every day, to open up our minds, ears and eyes and to see and live with a heart of flesh and not a heart of stone... We are urged by Christ to love and to grown. Personally, I don't think you can fully love without growing constantly. Growth requires us to leave our comfort zone, to take a step into the thin air of faith.
Somedays I weep because I am weary of growth. Other days, I run straight into it full throttle on...
But on this day, I am grateful to know that I am not on this journey alone. Here is a copy of Mary Oliver's poem, The Journey.
The Journey
One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice --
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do --
determined to save
the only life you could save.
~ Mary Oliver ~
