Friends For The Journey

There are no answers to these questions. Mostly we have just enough light to see the next step: what we have to do in the coming hour or the following day. The art of living is to enjoy what we can see and not complain about what remains in the dark. When we are able to take the next step with the trust that we will have enough light for the step that follows, we can walk through life with joy and be surprised at how far we go. Let’s rejoice in the little light we carry and not ask for the great beam that would take all shadows away.

Psalm 119:105
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.

1 Cor. 13:12
For now we see through a glass, darkly;

This is so true. Most of us live with an inner imagination of what our future will hold; we imagine ourselves happily growing old, going to the graduations and marriages of our children and grandchildren. Others might live in fear of the future. When my wife was diagnosed with a medically “terminal” illness, my imaginations of the future came crashing down on me. I could only imagine myself alone and grieving in the future. For well over a year or two I constantly battled inner thoughts of despair and fear of the future. I eventually had to stop thinking about the future and live in the present moment as Henri Nouwen suggests above. This was difficult for a visionary and futurist.

Now, four and one half years later, life with Debbie has been exceedingly rich. I would have to say that the last four years have been the best four years of our lives … and we have no earthly idea how many wonderful years still lie ahead of us. Jesus tells us that it is a complete waste of time to worry about our lives—what we will eat, what we will wear—worry about the future cannot change anything. It is better to focus on enjoying the present moment to the max, loving and being loved in return.

We have a favorite saying that goes:

“The past is history,
The future is a mystery,
All we have is today,
Which is why they call it the present!”