The Long and Winding Road

We hold these truths to be evident -- that we are created equal. That we are all humans. Fallible. Capable of a variety of actions ranging from overly beautiful to horrendous. In the course of the fleeting moments on this earth that we call our lives, we are born and we die. Its the in-between parts that get us sometimes. We are this. Or we are that. We do this. And we do that. We are know for being an insurance adjuster or flight attendant or grocery clerk or computer guy or police woman. Whatever. It doesn't really matter. Who cares. It's such a small portion of what actually comprises who we are. Our essence. Our being. Who is inside, rather than outside.

I'm telling you kids, I'm a little emotional today. I often consider the human factor, the race that the people of this world are on. Their errors in judgment. Their falsehoods. Their fake smiles and the games that they play. They are good many times. They say one thing and yet do another. Regularly. They say they are a honorable person and yet they are not. They say they don't judge others and yet they do. I'm losing a friend today. Well, not really losing....just a temporary separation. I'm going to miss them. You see, they are going away for a while. Quite a while. And I'm sad. We all learn, we all fail, some miserably. There are so many lessons to learn if we avail ourselves. I'm afraid I have many to learn. I have failed in some very serious ways in my life. Nothing earth shattering but I have hurt myself and others in this life, there's no doubt about that. I like to learn. My friend is learning. Painfully. And I'm learning in the process. About error. About habits. About how we look at difficult situations in our lives. I've discovered that some things we are told to be true are not. In fact, they are many times false. And things that are supposedly bad are found to be quite good. I question nearly every single thing I hear or see, both positive and negative. I take next to nothing at face value.

We are called to be witnesses to both good and bad in this life. And just when you think you've seen it all, something else comes along. I'm rarely surprised. I don't really have a start and finish to this piece. It could go on for a very long time. A steady stream of thoughts flows out at times like this. I just know that when I put my head on my pillow at night, as has been the case with many nights this year, I have a lot on my mind....including my friend. For safety and peace. For resolution and protection. For happiness. For learning. And if I have all of these things on my mind, I can't imagine how much they are on his mind. 2019 is a long, long way away. Isn't it? Or is it? I extend the hand of peace to my friend today. When we wake up each morning, we don't really know precisely how the day will end up going. But when we rest our heads on our pillows at night, the day is over, complete. It has passed in exactly the way it was supposed to. We must rest in that assurance.