Being There

Back in the days framed by my childhood are memories of road trips from Waycross to Savannah or Brunswick where aunts and uncles and cousins lived.  And while I knew how many miles had to be traveled and how long it took, I remember, too, that the favorite question of me and my sister was, "How much longer is it going to be?"  It must be a question of the ages since our children were prone to ask the same question not once, but many times during any road trip to any destination.

 

This question of the ages is still often asked by so many of us who have outgrown the back seat and now sit behind the steering wheel.  We also want to know how long before we get where we are going.  Of course, as we get older, it is not just about destination anymore, but about reaching certain goals in our life, or seeing our plans come to fruition, or getting somewhere which seemed more attractive or better than the place we are at the present moment. 

 

When we live thinking only of the arrival, we miss out on the biggest part of the journey.  The journey itself is sacrificed by always looking forward to the end.  I was reminded of this the other day as I ventured out in the morning air and it felt like a hint of fall was in the air and I wondered how much longer it would be before the heat of summer was history.  It seems like every journey, no matter how ordinary, gets tainted by the ageless question first spoken in our childhood.  The truth is that the most important part of any journey, any transition to another moment, is the simple two letter word, "be."  God has put us here to be in the place and time He has put us.  Being there being as attentive to the present moment as possible is really the most important thing.