With the publication of this week’s issue I cross another milestone (November 7) on my pilgrimage through this life!
It’s been a strange, twisted journey, but I have survived through it all so far with “…an unfaltering trust;” and ultimate goal to “..approach my grave as one who wraps the draperies of his couch about him and lies down to pleasant dreams.”
Having spent much of it living defensively–through family circumstances, it is most important to realize even at this late date the control we have over “how we handle things (and people) we have no control over. This is by putting one’s fate (and actions) into the hands of One “higher than I”¬– fortified with deeds and words that merit highest respect and admiration.
Over the past weekend I journeyed with my daughter, her husband and his parents to our mutual home state, West Virginia¬. His mother is a native of Beckley; I was born in Fayetteville although never resided there–except for a brief time during summers.
We visited both places–with her relatives in Beckley, only family graves in Fayettevlle with the home-place burned down and the acreage now being infringed upon.
The high point (literally) was visiting the historic steel-arched bridge and Visitors Center that includes a movie of the unique history of the State and the New River Gorge Bridge, becoming more famous for its increasing bungee-jumping from the top and white-water rafting underneath, along with surrounding camping areas–which our driver decided to explore¬–from behind the wheel only.
The return journey included a stop for dinner at the Golden Corral in Beckley before hitting the highway for Roanoke, arriving around 10pm.
The farther I journey along this pilgrimage, the more I relax and enjoy the ride–treasuring each blessing; learning from each disappointment–the two seem to balance things out.
Upon bathing night and day in the endless stream on Divine Utterances from the Pen of Baha’u’llah, believed by Baha’is to be The Promised One of all aged, I have learned many things. Among them that love is of many kinds and that individuals have different loving capacities–some a thimble size while others may expand toward the illimitable Love of God (however you perceive Him) once “the pith of self has been blown.”
Also to be highly considered is the fact that pure love is infinite while individuals are finite! Therefore infinite love cannot be adequately expressed through finite means. We also learn, in purifying our love of and through the Creator, that we become better able to love His creation–the good, the bad and the ugly; the lovable and especially the unlovable who need love most!
The more we consider these innumerable underlying factors, the more we can relax and enjoy the ride along life’s uncertain journey–regardless of its remaining length.
