From Here to There...and Fear.

From Here-to-There…
just may be the longest, hardest journey we will ever take. 
And we are very often very afraid of taking that journey.

And yet, Lord knows, we all need to make the Journey from Here to There…

We are here…with our disappointments,

But we would like to be there…

We are here…with our incredible burden of guilt,

But we would like to be there…

We are here…with our dead-end job, or relationship, or future,

But we would like to be there…

We are here…wandering, wondering, floundering, failing,

But we would like to be there…

But the fear!  The fear of taking that journey.  The one from Here to There.
We are afraid...we are damned scared.  We are:
-Afraid of our loving relationships going bad...or going away.
-Afraid of being ill, or incapacitated.
-Afraid of the world beyond us...and the world within us.
-Afraid of others finding out what's behind the mask.
-Afraid of not measuring up.
-Afraid of living...and of dying...and especially afraid of those we love dying before we do.
-Afraid we've been believing the wrong things all this time.
-Afraid of sexuality...that of others...but of our own, too.
-Afraid of others who do not look like us.
-Afraid that no matter what the preacher says on Sunday morning, God cannot possibly love us that much. 

~From there to here, and here to there, funny things are everywhere. 

                              –Dr. Seuss

Well, buck up!  Here are some words of encouragement about the very necessary journey from Here to There.  (Material is adapted from Kwasi Kena, in the Africana Worship Book, 2014.)

 

Maybe…

We will find Life in the unexpected…
the unexpected places
where we least expect to find it.
It just may be that in those unlikely places
the undeniable sense of the holy
will overwhelm our attention.
Maybe…  
We will find Life in the unexpected…
the unexpected times
when we would rather
wallow around in the muddle of our mind
and rehash old, unresolved issues.
It just may be that Life will pierce through the wall of our wailing
and shine glory on our being
so we can see a new path,
a new direction, a new purpose.
Maybe…
We will find Life in the unexpected…
in people whose lives seem so fractured.
Yet they, like shards of a mirror,
reflect the image of Life so clearly
and profoundly
that Life becomes flesh again.
Maybe…
We will find Life in the unexpected…
in those situations that seem trivial:
a passing comment,
a line from a movie,
an image on a screen.
Serendipity turns spiritual in unguarded moments
because Life chooses to speak to us
through the unexpected.
And when…
When we find Life in the unexpected.
Slowly, we will learn to expect Life – in the unexpected,
on the Journey from Here to There…everyday.