Whether we like it or not, expect taking seven journeys through life; and, each journey bears a name:
We call Journey No. 1: “I find myself with someone I don’t know in a place I don’t recall, and I don’t know what to do with them or what they want to do with me.” Another name for this journey might be, “Welcome to the Garden of Eden.” (Genesis 3)
One characteristic of this journey stands out when we find ask ourselves, “What day is it?” Anytime we ask that question, know that this is Journey No. 1.
We can’t decide where to go. We find it hard to remember what happened yesterday. We hear our inner voice asking, “Was that just yesterday?” Life moves too fast for us to comprehend who we are, who we were; and, for the likes of us, where did these people in my life come from? Welcome to the Garden of Eden, where we’re naked and exposed to people we never met before. Some experts liken this journey to adolescence.
Journey No. 2: “Sacrificial Love,” known as, “I gave up my whole life for you, and now you want to run me out of town?”
After adolescence, we might feel impassioned. Hormones rush through our agile bodies, driving some of us into heavy-duty careers and vocations, college, and/or graduate school; or, we find ourselves completely mesmerized by a gorgeous object of our affection, who we may or may not marry.
Once our “impassioned-ness” cools, life takes a number of turns. One might be when we feel like everything we gave to our beloved ends in our bankruptcy and love lost. Once the divorce gets settled, the spouse gets the house, the car, the vacation cabin, the RV, and 50 percent of our retirement. We feel lost. We gave our blood and our love for them; and we get all the bills.
The best case scenario, therefore, for Journey No. 2 involves staying impassioned. Stay in love with your partner, your family, your interests or keep the fire alive for your career despite occasional ups and downs. This way Journey No. 2 keeps us vital and ready for Journey No. 3.
Journey No. 3: “The Wilderness Sojourn.” Even if we transition from Journey No. 1 into Journey No. 2 without too many upheavals, at some point we journey through a wilderness. We travel to new and sometimes scary places. Like in the Garden of Eden, we don’t know the rules; and, we find ourselves asking, “What’s next?”
Perhaps we find ourselves starved for food, water, and affection. We feel lost. The kids don’t call, or our company lays off 18,000 workers (“Am I next?”). Like in the Book of Exodus, our path seems uncertain.
Of all the seven journeys, “The Wilderness Journey” crops up often more than once in our lives. The solution?
The solution might be Journey No. 4: “I found a guiding light, and I hope I won’t get burned.”
When in the wilderness, we can only welcome a guiding light. Be careful, however. Not all “guiding lights” act respectfully. Sometimes our new and wonderful “guiding light” steals what our ex-spouse or our failing company never grabbed on their way out the door.
With luck, a guiding light appears in the darkness. (See “Pillar of Fire” in the Book of Exodus.) With this “Pillar of Fire” or another name, “The Shekinah Glory,” we find ourselves on a new and even exciting course, headed for a new life. We might ask, “Where are we headed?” Yet, our soul tells us, “Follow the fire and the light”.
On Journey No. 5, we find ourselves headed to “The Land of Promise.” We call Journey No. 5: “The Promised Land – A Place That Must Be Better Than Where I’ve Been.”
Of course, others already found this to be their Promised Land, too; and, there might be a struggle or two to acquire our piece of the land. Yet eventually, we and all the folks around us find ways to get along. We meet new people. In time we ask, “Who governs this Land of Promise?
As we seek to find the answer to this question, we discover that a renovated city and capital of the Land heralds the name, “The New Jerusalem.” The New Jerusalem came under a new Hebrew management supervised by King David. (See 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings)
The New Jerusalem exhibits people treating each other kindly and fairly – even lovingly. They all forgive one another; and, they love the Lord their God with all their might.
Then for some of us, we continue trekking through this New Jerusalem. And then…
Journey No. 7. We see in the midst of this New Jerusalem a restored Garden of Eden with Its Tree of Life (which we never saw on Journey No. 1). Lots of healing and no more death or tears. Why not simply call it Heaven.
So Journey No. 7 we call: “I find myself with another person, and we know what to do with each other – to treat each other kindly and lovingly (unlike the first time we found ourselves in the Garden of Eden and never knew what to do)”.
Over the next seven months, I plan to give more detailed descriptions of each of these journeys. Just know that you should plan to travel seven journeys in all during your life.
Tom Towns is pastor of First United Methodist Church in Cortez.
