It probably started three years ago, a question that began to infiltrate my mental vocabulary (if someone can have a mental vocabulary), if you limit one's mental capacities to only be known through verbal communication, but I'm getting distracted.
The question has helped my overview of situations and relationships. Over the last couple years it's a question that became a regular part of my evaluation of life. Now I would say the question shows up mentally and verbally numerous times throughout the day. It is.
"If this life is a journey".......
Yeah, that's about it. I find myself asking this question all the time. The first thing that this question does for me is help me remember my presuppositions. I believe that there is a "Good Shepherd" that is guiding me on a journey through life. This allows me to relax regarding where were going in one were going to get there. It allows me to remember that I may hang out with others for a while, and we may be split up for awhile and both events are being orchestrated by the Shepherd.
This question for me allows me to enjoy the arrivals as well as the departures of people and places. Although sometimes I may wonder about a arrival or a departure,and desire a little more insight as to why, I am comforted to know that I don't have to know in order to trust the one who is leading the journey.
Keeping the idea of a journey allows me to transfer any anxiety for the path I am on or the path my friends may be on to the great Shepherd. Trusting in the Shepherd allows me to be more encouraging to those around me because I don't have to have an answer to all of their questions, but together we can observe the Shepherd to see where we may be traveling.
Applying this question to average everyday things(like red lights, traffic, conversations that interrupt my plans) helps me be a little more even keel. I will admit it's a question that exposes how uneven I can be in everyday things, but it does allow me to smile and understand that what I'm tripping on is but a small stone, or root on a much larger path that involves far more people than myself.
This question frees me up from the philosophy of finding a "defining moment" of my life. That constant chasing that so many people in the world are trapped in as they tried to gain significance or meaning through some sort of event, activity, or relationship.
Coming in with the presupposition that there is a good Shepherd overseeing the journey also allows me the freedom of not having to know everything. I know when all you have to trust in his yourself it is a very precarious position to be in. You trusting in you means you better be perfect or you are in trouble, because you may have made a bad choice and you have nowhere else to go but to yourself. :-)
I'm not saying this question is the questioned everyone should answer in order to get through life, but it sure has helped me over the last three years and continues to help me today.
I also know that there are different ways to ask the question and still cover the same concept, this one just works for me and maybe it will work for you.
I do hope you enjoy your journey.
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