JOURNEYS

I am a deep thinker. That is who I am. This was not an overnight production much like pouring wax into a candle mold, letting it set for a few hours, and then the complete finished product is presented. I have been molded, honed, seasoned, chipped and repaired; and the process continues. But the core, the foundation, of who I am remains the same.

We, all, walk an individual path that becomes our own journey. It is never the same for any two people. However, we all start at the same place. We are formed by God Almighty and life is breathed into us. We are created because He performed this miracle and, I believe, with great purposes in mind unique to each. Without the move of His hand in the beginning, none of us would exist. Thus, our journey begins.

We are impressionable as children, molded and influenced by our family units and culture. As we mature and develop, our individual personalities form. Like an artist paints a picture, there is an array of colors, textures, tools, and visions that are applied to make it what it becomes. However, unlike a picture, we have the ability to improve and even reshape things about ourselves we know are not as good or pleasing to God’s eye and ideas for us as His children.

Adulthood does not excuse us from the continuing process of being a better person from the day before. I know it is easy to take for granted the blessings in life. With the blessings, we often adopt the mentality that we are invincible and unimpressionable. And with that, it is easy to fall into an abyss of selfishness, a loss of compassion, a feeling of entitlement, and so on. This can become our journey if we are not careful. It may produce feelings of confidence, taking charge, “I am what I am” mentality and there is nothing wrong with that when applied in a humble manner. The danger is when we become so full of our own selves we fail to recognize and embrace the goodness and ideas God has for us and our vision becomes blurred.

God is very clear; always has been, always will be. We, His creations, are what alter His plans. He gives us free will to make our decisions, which affect our individual journeys…..good and bad. He knows what paths we will take; what mindsets we will have; what contributions of kindness and compassion we will make, or not, and so on. He knows there is no perfection in any of us, but He does expect and hold us accountable to continue to allow Him to mold, hone, season, chip and repair, our earthly being on our individual journeys. When we are resistant to that, it is never a positive for us.

God wants His children to be happy, fruitful, embrace struggle with compassion, and always seek Him for guidance, shelter, growth, and the continuance of being a better person….to ourselves and others…..every day, not just occasionally when we feel it is good for us or something is right for our benefit. Our actions reflected on our individual paths dictate the story of our journey. We all start out at the same place; We are formed by God Almighty and life is breathed into us. Where we end up at the end of our earthly journey is up to each person. There are no statements or feelings of “I was this way because…..” or “They made it that way…..” that will give credence in the end. It is all about the willingness and being humble to be continually molded, honed, seasoned, chipped and repaired with God at the core of our being. We won’t all end up in the same place eternally. But we all have the same opportunity and options to do so and care about others as much as we do ourselves along the way.

Like branches on a tree, the paths are multiple. The paths lead back into one avenue that constitutes the journey. You don’t know the intimate depths that have formed the basis for who I am, no more than I know yours. But I know if my earthly journey is complete tomorrow, I hope having the bravery to embrace this path of writing will have helped someone in some way and I didn’t take everything with me, but left something behind that God would be proud of me for doing so.

I’ll see you on the flip-side……