Journeys

A journey is full of opportunities as it does not travel in a straight line but with many turns and stops and starts. On a journey, we always meet new people and rekindle old friendships. A journey is never smooth without obstacles or troubles, but with each bump in the road, we learn more about ourselves and our community. We only learn when we take the time to learn from our past and reflect on it of what we can do better in the present to make the future of our journey more impactful for both us and others.

This last week I finished my last week at the high school where I worked for seven years. I left on good terms. Long story short, my school is in financial crisis. Change is a necessity at the school. During this pandemic and on my walks, I have recognized that change is a necessity for me too, in more than one area. Our country is facing a time of change. Many people have resistance to change because the process of change is painful. We have to release elements of our past in order to have a present with love. It’s painful and difficult, but if it were easy and fun, we would never learn from it. We need to see change as an opportunity. Every journey has turns, resting spots, opportunities, and people that we can discover will help us on our journey.

Every journey consists of changes along the way. Change is difficult, especially change that connects to uncertainty, but change is necessary. Once we change, we grow. We have to be always changing and growing as individuals and as a country. We can always look at the past and reminisce, but we have to be honest about the past too, both as individuals and as a country. Change may seem like an obstacle, but it is actually an opportunity that we should not miss.

We move forward on a journey, but we need to stop and look back and learn from where we have been. As individuals, we have a past that is full of sins and wrongdoings. We may see some people and only see the mistakes that we made with that relationship. We have to learn from those mistakes so we do not repeat them. We have to change our actions, our words, and our attitudes. We have to do the same as a country. As a country, we need to learn more about our history, ALL of it. There will be parts that we will not appreciate, but we can learn from those parts and change our actions, our words, and our attitudes. Once we start with ourselves, we will inspire others to make the changes.

A journey has opportunities along the way that we need to see and seize. When I travel, there are billboards along the highway that offer a different opportunity for me to experience. Sometimes, I take those opportunities. Our lives are full of opportunities that we either take or reject. People say that we let opportunities slip or pass by, but in reality, we reject them. With every opportunity that is given to us, we need to make the best of it to serve others. As a country, we have an opportunity right now to learn from history, change our present, and make a difference in the lives of people in our community to have a better future. We don’t have to agree with everyone and their political views, but we must see the humanity in every single living being. We have to stand up and fight that every single human has equitable opportunities in order to make the world a better place.

When I take a physical journey, I meet with friends who live in the places to which I travel. In our journey with life, we need to build strong community with those who have been are allies and guided us along with our decisions on the journey. As a country, we need to align ourselves with people who will help us see their perspective in life. We need to listen to the stories and experiences of those who have a different ethnicity than us so we can all learn together. We need to listen to the stories and experiences of people who have different political and religious beliefs than us. Canceling people who are different from us creates division and strife. It also makes us less understanding and less loving. It makes us naïve and close-minded. Opening our hearts to people who are different from us creates unity, love, and understanding. People are what make us realize that we are never alone on any journey.

All journeys have stops along the way. This last week, not only did my job end, but I celebrated the life of a man whose life suddenly ended. The impact that Ricky Williams had on the world extends beyond what most of us can imagine. His words of encouragement and empowerment always made a person better after being in his presence. He impacted so many lives that the world is a better place because of him. When we have ends, we need to remember what we have learned and look forward to the future of what is set before us. Our country needs to end racism and look forward to a future with diversity in every realm of life in this country.

A journey is continuous. May we all continue to grow and learn from each other and with each other. Let us all remember to recognize that when we have Jesus with us on this journey of life, we have peace, not as the world defines peace, but peace within our souls, even when life around us on our journey has strife. We need to walk on our journey of life with faith in God, so we can have help in time of trouble. We need to have hope that each part of our journey will make us better humans. Most of all we need to have the greatest of these, love. Love is what makes our journey fulfilled. May we share this love with everyone in our community, so we can make the world a better place for everyone to live.