Thereafter I stumble-trod along an acutely-remembered portion of The Way that was as dust-blasted as it was long & lonely; knowing that the next respite was indeed somewhere “just up ahead” and yet seeing no hint or evidence of the same for hour after hour of trudging. And to make matters even more challenging, there was almost no one else on The Way with me at the time – no one else to encourage, no one else to whom to be kind, no one else for whom to care. These latter options are not only what make any pilgrimage bearable, they are what make life itself worth living, and it was difficult indeed to traipse through the wilderness without the opportunity to even offer another the smallest of smiles …

“Of course there are times I stumble, times when I am confidently skipping along and then I trip over my own poorly-placed (ie self-centered) steps and fall face first into the thickets of anxiety or disappointment or even outright suffering. And yet there is somehow a sort of beauty in such fallings, if for no other reason that each time I fall, I’m reminded that I’m still human, that I’m still learning, that there will always be not necessarily more lessons to learn but ever more opportunities to rediscover and then re-enliven my Greater Self. So, although I do experience times when I feel weak or fearful or annoyed or even angry, I wouldn’t give them up generally for the world – precisely because every time I meet them on the Road of Life, I am given the opportunity to give them up anew. And so I choose to I cherish them when they arrive – because it’s the temptation of falling into their shadow that makes life so blazingly grand whenever I choose to step lightly past them instead.” ~ inspired by Cristen Rodgers

Filed under: Peace Pilgrimage #02: Walking HOME (2019) by Scaughdt