“What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.” -T.S Elliot
I have thought this passage and T.S makes me dizzy thinking of life as a cycle of beginnings and ends.
My heart is perceiving beginnings and endings differently. I see my soul's journey and destination as a linear life experience. Measured not of beginnings and ends , but rather of milestones, and experiences along a path that is continuously moving forward, step by step full of purpose and destination. Not with beginnings and endings. Rather, I am challenged to reflect on every milestone as having it's own 'BC' and 'AD' where I define myself or the response I have around that moment on the path of the journey. It's more like walking the reception line of life, shaking hands, kissing babies, stubbing toes, wiping tears...but always moving on, walking forward. It is a pilgrimage on a path with people and places and events measured in before's and after's.
Life has a new meaning in BC/AD -
I define it simply as before the catalyst and after the discovery along the way.
Can we dare ourselves to move along whether joyful or hurt? Can we compassionately observe and carry on our way? Can we define ourselves and grow in response to each BC/AD of each major milestone whether painful or joy filled? Can we define those milestones as simply rest stops on the journey where we may wrestle with God for a while or simply appreciate the richness of the moment?
Dear Life, make me a disciple of this way. And, please, don't make it too lonely. My heart desires Love.
Perhaps Love weaves it's way in, for a time, when we connect with someone willing to share the journey and the milestones with us. Some will grow weary, some will stumble. Some will walk with us and some will leave us on their own journey. Some will carry, some need to be carried, some will sprint up the mountain but wait for us at the next milestone, and some will sprint on.
But each moment at each stop along the way isn't a beginning or end; it's an experience that changes everything we knew and a discovery that changes everything we hope for next. In our human experience it often gets trapped as a memory and stifles us. If it is an experience, it enables us to observe, feel and discover as we continue the journey...and hopefully grow in our light.
This is my CAMINO TRAIL
I have discovered from the last milestone that I can change the pace and my perception so I don't miss Love when it merges on my path, won't lose the way when Love distracts and wont fail from fatigue when Love needs to be carried. I will make my soul's pilgrimage count.
