Some reflections as I consider the Stations of the Cross
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Rising UP – Going for the Higher View
One of my trips I flew out to see my son when he was in Montana. Looking out the plane window at the great expanse of land, I was in awe of the adventuresome spirit and strength of those pioneers who walked out west.
As if the mere distance wasn’t daunting enough, I noticed the meandering rivers, snaking back and forth for miles, I thought about the people walking alongside the water until they could find a suitable place to cross with all their belongings. Trudging along the S curves, going so many more steps than it seemed necessary, looking for the “best” place to risk negotiating the waters.
Then the hills got bigger. What did they think when they first saw what they would have to surmount? The upward pull going for so long. And when they crossed over there would be another in view and then another.
Some people broke off and decided they had gone far enough and would settle where they were. Some pushed on crossing the Rockies to the fertile lands of California. And others never would attempt such a journey. Which person would you have been?
Would you have been the one who stayed back East? Or might you have been the one who stopped along the way and established a life where they were? Or would you have continued on to reach your goal with patient endurance?
What happened along the way? Were family members and friends buried along the trail? Were you hungry or was there enough to eat? Did you sing or dance and find ways to bring joy to your journey?
Each person would have challenges to overcome. They would be different ones depending on their choices to stay, to stop, to go on. Did each succeed to the level of their strength? Were any praying for knowledge of God’s will for them?
If you were to rise up and look over the journey you’ve taken as a traveler in this life, what would you see?
Looking back over your life can you notice the sticking parts, the successes, the wait-training – the parts that built your faith muscles? Did you take the circuitous route? There were probably ups and downs. Did you have an ultimate goal? Were you willing to do what was difficult to get there, to keep moving toward it, wading through or climbing over the things that seem to block the way? Where was God in your life?
Each step of your journey brought new threads to be woven into the fabric of your life. Each life has it’s own colors and patterns, thickness and texture. And they all have their particular charm and beauty when viewed from a distance, like a tapestry. Not unlike the view from the plane - a patchwork of farms and fields, roads and rivers, mountains and plains.
I can hardly imagine what that journey was like for the pioneers. Not knowing exactly what comes next, just taking the next step and the next. Moving in the chosen direction. Yet, many times our lives are like that – having to trust, just stepping out, not knowing what may be next.
That airplane height view is breathtakingly beautiful - the rivers, the mountains, the farm fields and the plains. Maybe that’s what it’s like when God looks down at our lives from a higher perspective -
He sees something extravagantly beautiful!
I am wonder-filled.
Lynn Durham, Well Being Coach, 603-926-9700, www.lynndurham.com
For a Lenten Reflection go to www.thewayofthecrossandresurrection.com
Lynn Schwartz Durham is a mother of three sons and a well-being coach living in New Hampshire, USA. Since her childhood days in Lordship, Connecticut where she held “health camp” at the beach, Lynn has been interested in helping others feel better.
A UConn graduate and registered nurse, Lynn has taught nursing, “Women’s Wellness” and “Spirituality and Health.” Lynn speaks, facilitates retreats, and writes - all focused on well-being …for those who want to release anger, anxiety and anguish … for those who want to embrace, cherish and celebrate life!
Lynn has published over 100 articles and columns, is a contributing author to several books, has an audio book called Dancing Gracefully with Life and is the author of From Frazzled to Fantastic! You’re One Thought Away From Feeling Better,
For many years Lynn was a member of the National Speakers Association, the National Wellness Association and the American Association of Therapeutic Humor. She has studied at the Harvard Deaconess Mind Body Medical Institute in Boston where a fellow participant called her a glass of Prozac!
Lynn is also a NH Real Estate Broker in the lakes and mountains area, a grandmother, an artist, dancer and bridge player.
Through contact with Lynn on TV, radio or in person, people change the way they see their world. Whether we find her with a flower in her hat, or spinach in her teeth, Lynn brings her sense of Joy in the Journey wherever she goes.
