The Journey

As we walk homeward, often going one step backwards for every two we go forward, our Beloved comes to meet us.  And for every step we make towards love, love makes ten towards us.  At first we do no know this, so great is the apparent distance between us.  But one day we realize that the desolation is no longer there.

                               Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, Prayer of the Heart, p. 21

______________________________

 

It is a long trip home

back to the original blessing

back to that place where we are sheltered

in Sacred blessing

 

loved

safe

at peace

 

still the storms swirl around us

still the pain lingers

 

but in that place we find

the peace that comes

from a mind “stayed on God”  (Isaiah 26)

 

we slog toward home

struggling, as if we are mired in mud

one step forward, one step back

sliding, slipping, falling

 

yes, into the “ooze and slime and old decay”  (CS Lewis)

 

sometimes the way seems impassable

the journey futile

our goal unattainable

 

and yet while we strive

muttering under our breath

cursing ourselves and others

 

peering into the glooming light

desperate for some clue

that we are on the right path

seeking even the briefest glimpse of our destination

 

You our God

are working your way toward as

as you always, always do

 

coming to us as we struggle

coming along side

coming with a strong arm

to lift us up

again and again

 

coming unbeknownst

coming gently

quietly

 

so quietly we do not notice

perhaps

until in that moment

 

when we stop and our striving

and rest in silence

we hear

the still small voice of Love