The Journey Forward

We are not the person we were.  Life changes us.  The Holy Spirit changes us.  We are even occasionally found deciding to make changes on our own, though it must be acknowledged that our self imposed changes may be a reflection of the way we have been shaped in the past.  Trying to hold on to the person we were stymies our growth and movement into the future.  It may even be a rejection of the way the Spirit is moving in our lives in the present moment.  In this journey from where we were to where we are one thing is certain, change is inevitable.    

The very nature of our physical presence is always sending us a message about the inevitability of change.  We are conceived in a joining of two cells and are born into this world as eight pounds or so of screaming energy.  Very slowly we change from a child to an adult who can jump fences to one who is amazed at the accumulation of wrinkled skin and gray hair.  Our journey from having plenty of energy to having none tells us something we do not want to hear.   What is happening in our physical life is also happening in our emotional and spiritual life.  

As the physical changes are manifesting themselves, it is also true that our view of the world is changing.  It may be a world with more gray instead of the black and white which once filled our view of things.  We may even see that our understanding of how God is present with us and is leading us has gone in a direction we never anticipated when we started our spiritual journey.  Abraham's journey with God was not to a certain place, but more to a land described as "know not where."  If we are honest, this is our journey as well.  We are not who we were.  Neither are we who we are going to be for the Spirit is constantly shaping and leading us.