Walking The Journey

Life is full of the inevitable, like change, growth, and death. We don’t always like the inevitable, but they come, and they go, and in the end, they just are, or were. Another inevitable is conflict. Doesn’t it seem that we have the most conflict with the ones we love the most? But then again, shouldn’t we? I often joke that if I haven’t had a good conflict in a week with my wife, I’d better start one because it means we’re probably not communicating. So in that context, is conflict always bad or can it be good, or both? Conflict exists because human beings exist. It has been around since the first creation and will see the death of the last creation. We become consumed in the conflict instead of focusing on the solution, keeping the conflict alive and breathing. We need to shift our focus on who we are in conflict with and what they mean to us, in terms of relationship. We need to realize the extent of the relationship, if it is healthy and functional or unhealthy and dysfunctional.

I have to admit, I do like the cooler seasons, especially fall. The first cold morning a few weeks ago, I swear I could smell snow building up from the north. The landscape explodes into waves of color, reds and oranges and yellows, as the greens of summer fade from the branches of the mighty trees. Soon, they will lose most of their colors to the approaching winds of winter. How I love the changing of the seasons. We as humans travel through our own changes as well. Our bodies grow, age, wither, and eventually fade. Our minds change with increased knowledge and awareness, grasping higher levels of insight and understanding, memory skills diminishing, eventual withering away with our bodies. Our spirits sore with energy and wonder and move into life responsibilities, resting eventually in the warmth of our stories. With the seasons, we change, but at a much slower pace. Change is neither good nor bad, it is just inevitable. Change has no other purpose than to change. It is how we a

The vibrating sounds scream forth from the alarm clock, signaling a new day, an awaking, to face the challenges of life once again, out of our slumber and warm bed into the reality of life. Noises begin as showers start, others in the home awake, and with their rise, more noise. Televisions and radios and computers come alive as well, and the noises of the outside world fill the senses. The quiet of silence enjoyed throughout the night is now forgotten memories, having left along with the peace and serenity she brings. The day has begun; the horses are on the track. So much of our day is filled with noise that blocks the sounds of silence, the teachings of the soul, and the words from our God. For some reason, silence has come to represent awkwardness, fear, rejection, anxiety, and loneliness, to name a few. We often have lost the power of silence and the wisdom it can bring. I have spent time with others who in the sounds of silence run as fast as they can into the noise of the worl

A major focus in my life, in fact the one word which represents a huge concept that keeps me centered, is serenity. It’s not that I like the word as much as I feel it’s meaning when all in life is centered, no matter the peace or turmoil that lives in the external of my world. When the internal is serene, the external can be given up to be whatever it needs to be. As the external skin keeps the internal body covered and creates a boundary around the physical body, the soul creates a boundary around the mind, the heart, the reality of the human being, as the body will grow old and fade and die and the true self, the soul, the spirit, remains eternal. We cover our bodies for modesty, protection, and warmth with clothing, shoes, hats, etc, and we must cover the soul with concepts such as serenity, which keep the being in the human protected from the elements of life. It is much easier to keep the body protected than it is to keep the being protected, as physical coverings are tangible