Traveling Along the Road of Life

Today is Friday, April 11, 2014.

This photograph reminds me of the Beatles song, “The Long and Winding Road.”

The long and winding road that leads to your door
Will never disappear.
I’ve seen that road before; it always leads me here
Leads me to your door.

We’re all on a journey back to the Heart of God.  I don’t believe that we will disappear into God and lose our individuality that we’ve worked so long and so hard to create.  Rather, we will have a big, fat reunion with all the other Souls with whom we have had experiences along the way.  By that time, we will have learned how to cooperate, and we will all be on the same page, working in unison right along with God.  Nobody will care about taking credit for what is accomplished, and yet we will all be aware that our part is important, and we will play our part with joy.

Meanwhile, back on earth, here we are, just trying to survive.  We are walking that long and winding road, and it’s tough.  It’s hard to imagine that we are really making any progress, because the road switches back so many times that we look around and see the same scenery, sometimes from only a slightly higher elevation.  The road widens and narrows, and we are sometimes obliged to crawl along, or sidestep very carefully, so as not to fall off the road.  Sometimes we go through tunnels that are so long we imagine that we will never see daylight again.  Other times we are in full sunlight, and wish we could find some shade.  When we do find shade, we wish we had the sunlight again.  Most of the time, the road seems to be uphill, and there are rocks, a lot of rocks on the road, sometimes boulders that we have to move around or climb over.

As with any road you are on, there are any number of “destinations,” along the way, and we sometimes imagine that we are at the final destination, only to realize that we were only making a small pit stop, and that we are expected to move on.  We hit the road again, feeling badly that we have wasted time, but we realize at some point that we learn just as much at the rest stops as we do along the road.

When the road is wider and nicely paved, we sometimes wish for a more exciting road to travel.  When danger presents itself, we long for the easy path that bored us to tears earlier.  Some of us try to take shortcuts that end up taking longer than we thought.  Sometimes we decide to strike out on our own and blaze a new trail, never before trod by any other.  It’s exciting, but dangerous, and there is always the threat of getting incredibly lost.  Some of us take a road that looks promising, only to discover that it’s a sidetrack road that doesn’t lead anywhere, so we have to backtrack to the main road.

Some people like to help make the road easier for others.  They put up signs and hand out maps that point the way.  Sometimes these signs and maps are accurate, and sometimes they are not.  We realize that no matter how good the map is, we are still obliged to square the map against reality for ourselves.

At certain points, we come to a clearing where we can enjoy a wider view and thus appreciate just how far we’ve come.  We can’t stay there for long, either, but we can at least take heart from knowing that we have definitely made some progress.    Later on, the road gets more and more narrow, and less and less nicely paved.  Fewer people accompany us, and there are no longer any maps made by others to guide us.  We have to depend more on our own natural homing instincts and our connection with the Source of All Life to find our way.

Whatever happens, the road remains, and no matter how many times we stop to rest, or how many times we get lost in the woods, we will always be able to get back on the road and move farther along.  Who knows – the final destination may move along with us!   Perhaps it is not so much the destination that is beautiful, but the road itself.  🙂