..walking in agreement..

Day 8

In the beginning, God affirmed, "It is not good for the man to be alone." These are words that have resonated for ever and ever... Sermons often cite them and even singles use them as a reason, excuse, explanation, and justification to commit to a partner.

It is essential to accept the fact that God provided an alternative to loneliness. But I would be the first to recognize the great challenge it is to match find good company.

Going through different seasons in my life, more often than no I grow frustrated rather than being comforted by those words due to not finding people with whom to share my seasons. Although there are many people with whom to share our walk in life, it is difficult to coincide with people who share the same season in which we find ourselves.

I thought for a while in seasons where I've been discouraged. And to my good fortune, I could remember specific people who encouraged me. I remember the people who came to my rescue were living in far advanced seasons compared to me.

Then I considered that while even when sharing the same walk we need people who are going through different seasons compared to ours.

Walking with company welcomes help. I think for this the reason we read the following in Ecclesiastes 4.9-12: " Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed [...]Three are even better, because a triple-braided cord is not easily broken."

In the same line of thought, it is necessary to be aware that the quality of people with which we walk with is just as important. The Bible reminds us that walking among wise people keeps us on track. But we are also warned that walking with foolish people brings its consequences.

Proverbs 13.20: Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble.

If you took inventory of the people who are part of your current life experiences, where would you say you are headed?

One of the many times that God called to trial the people of Israel for their bad ways, He asks the following question:

Amos 3.3: Can two people walk together without agreeing on the direction?

It was like saying "you walk with people who lead you to destruction because you accept it and do not object to it!"

I think this question challenges us to take responsibility for the steps we take in life and recognize that no one is forcing us to walk. We decide to walk with the good, the bad, or the ugly because we agree to do so! Period!

So before you start sharing your walk, try to examine what you agree on and see if the destination you want to reach matches.

..no mile marker 7..

Day 7: No mile marker.

I’ve been writing in reference to my walks in the Winton Woods park for the past week. Every day until now has represented a meditation and a blog post about some aspect of symbolism related to our walk through life.

In preparation for each post, I decided to take pictures of all the mile markers that are correlated with the number of day of the year. My goal was to write ten entries, one for each tenth of a mile. The given day I went in search of the mile markers, I realized that the path has no mile marker 0.7.

Then I thought sometimes in life there is no mile marker 0.7.

Not finding mile marker 0.7, I thought it was unbelievable that I had never noticed!

I've walked this path so many times that I could walk it on autopilot. If I could do it every round would be exactly the same! But thank God who fixates my sight and thinking in different details and aspects of the walk, which allow me to meditate on them. On this occasion I had no choice but to meditate on the famous marker 0.7.

Since I did not manage to find marker, in a matter of seconds I started brainstorming how I could recreate it? How could I engineer a marker 0.7? Afterall, I wanted the picture for the blog entry ..

So then I thought this happens in life. And this is what I concluded:

1. Many times we want and seek signs in life. But the signs don’t always present themselves.
2. We don’t realize that a sign is missing until we go in search of it. It was not until I set out to find the mile marker that I realized it didn’t exist. 

Then I asked myself: what to do when this happens to us?

I stopped to think that many times we should recall past signs. In this case I was certain that I saw mile marker 0.6.

But it’s not enough to just take a look back. We should also keep in mind that we will find new signals ahead. In this case I was sure I would see mile marker 0.8.

I don’t know what signs you would have liked to find in your current walk, but I dare say it is not time to stop walking.

One of the verses that encourages during times of uncertainty is Psalm 32.8:

The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.” 

This makes me think that our confidence should not be in the signs, or the path itself. Instead it reminds us that the designer/owner of the path wants to guide us and will bring advice at the right time.

So keep walking! Do not stop! You may need to recall past signs. And by doing so, take courage and trust the advice of the one who orders your pathway.

..appreciating changing seasons..

Day 6

My studies moved me to Phoenix, Arizona in 2010, but a new job landed me in Pennsylvania during the winter of 2013. I transitioned from living in a desert to enjoying a state with abundant greenery. It was not until I enjoyed spring in Pennsylvania that I realized how monochromatic Arizona is.

Living in Pennsylvania was symbolic for me in many ways. But one of the allegories that resonates most within me was witnessing the rebirth that occurs during the spring. After enduring life in a desert, it was sweet to rediscover the spring. I admit that the winter in Pennsylvania was a blur to me, but the springtime I lived there is permanently tattooed in my memory.

I remember talking to my sister while driving around one April day. Every time I passed by a tree painted with flowers I interrupted her. I exclaimed, "Wow! How nice! Such pretty flowers! The colors are amazing!"

Her response to my outbursts was: "Do not be stupid! That's normal! This is what always happens every spring! Plants bloom!"

Honestly, our conversation seemed to repeat itself like a broken record. For several days we repeated a similar dialogue. While I admired the plants and colors, she tried to make me understand the normality of the season.

Until one day much to my surprise, she finally exclaimed: "Aaaah, I forgot that you lived in the desert! And in Phoenix there’s no flowers and everything looks brown!"

That seems such an insignificant everyday conversation if it were not for the fact that it taught me a great lesson. Let me explain.

For someone accustomed to living in a desert painted brown hues such as Phoenix, my eyes became a stranger to a landscape enriched with so much vegetation. So it was remarkable to be able to appreciate the nuances of nature in the midst of such greenery. It was hard to grasp what I was seeing.

I realized that I would not have appreciated a spring until after I endured living in the desert and withstanding a winter. Then I learned that the details of a season could be fully appreciated only when we stop to take inventory of change itself.

So this is the lesson: We appreciate the good seasons in life after we endure the bitter seasons and learn from them.

Furthermore, I will add that..

We appreciate family when we find ourselves apart from them.

We appreciate home once we become a stranger somewhere.

We appreciate relationships after we experience loneliness.

We appreciate work once unemployment surprises us.

We appreciate opportunities once we knock closed doors.

We appreciate purpose in life after we feel we have lived aimlessly.

..time for everything..

Day 5

Waiting for anything should not last a lifetime. But, what do we do while waiting?

Yesterday I wrote about trees bearing the winter while waiting for spring. But while waiting, it is nearly impossible to see the internal cellular processes trees endure during the cold months. We know that trees do not die during the winter although they appear to be lifeless. So this tells me that life goes on even while awaiting the change of a season.

I have lived in several cities where the residents withstand a winter while looking forward to the change of season promised by the spring. But while I’ve gotten used to the cold, every year during the winter I feel that my enthusiasm to participate in activities escapes me. It's like I would rather hibernate. As though the cold robs me of motivation.

But it doesn’t take long living in a city acclimated to winter to realize that life goes on during the cold months. People go on with their lives as during any other season. Bad weather does not hold them back. Their routines are not interrupted. Daily life continues. They jog. They work. They go grocery shopping. Etc. Winter does not paralyze nor surprise them because they know that each year the cold will come again.

The reality of life is that seasons change. So if our lives are marked by seasons, how come we resist changes when they grow near? No season is permanent. Every season in our life is nothing more and nothing less than a visit marked with a beginning and an end.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 insists "There is time for everything, and a season for every activity under heavens." I think this serves as a warning to the changes that we should accept in life. We are called to live waiting for the next seasonal change.

I encourage you not to be surprised by the changes this year promises to bring. Know that changes will come. Accept them. Embrace them. Do not be put off-guard by seasonal changes in your life.

Finally, if we recognize that there is time for everything, then why not enjoy the charm of each season in our lives? 

..to wait..

Day 4

The truth is that it's hard to get motivated to walk in a park during the crisp winter. These days I've gone walking I felt the cold air slap me in the face. I felt the cold to the bone! Although it’s been sunny, sunshine has offered no heat. And even the air felt dry sense due to the bitterness of the cold.

As I crossed marker 0.4 I observed that most of the trees look lifeless during winter. Then I stopped to ponder how do trees survive in the winter.

My conclusion was that trees are exposed to the same weather all year round. Regardless of the season, trees are exposed to precipitation as well as the rising and setting of the sun; this never changes. However, during the winter, precipitation, temperature, and sunlight approach extreme limits.

Now, consider that trees do not generate heat on their own nor do they have the option to migrate. So how can trees survive during the winter?

Although a tree may seem to be lifeless during the winter, it is not dead. It simply preserves itself and resists the climate. Several internal cellular processes allow a tree to preserve life. Yet none of this is visible to the naked eye. We can just accept that something happens internally. I think this internal preservation reflects a silent wait.

I think trees bear the winter waiting for spring. Waiting for leaves to grow once again. They hope to bear fruit yet again. They wait to redisplay their natural beauty. They await the change of season.

Then I remembered that biblically speaking, we are compared to trees. Which led me to think that similarly to the trees, our lives are marked by seasons and changes.

Then I understood that we endure winter while we wait for spring. I don’t know what spring represents in your life. But I venture to say that winter represents a time of waiting. It is the longing of something to come.

Somehow we all know what it is to wait. Whether we’ve waited in line to pay for something, or we have waited in the middle of traffic, or waited for medical results/diagnosis, or look forward to a promotion at work, or we hope to find a partner.... At some point we experience (or will experience) waiting.

But, are we willing to endure a harsh winter in order to enjoy the springtime? Are we willing to preserve our internal well-being while we wait?

..opposite direction..

Day 3

I always walk in the same direction. There is no variation in my route. But on the third day of the year I wondered how do I know which direction to walk? Why is it that I always decide to go in the same direction?

Lately I've been going around Winton Woods twice. So today I walked the first lap in the right direction, in the same direction I always walk. But then I decided to walk the second lap in the opposite direction. I wanted to see how it would feel walking in the opposite direction.

When I started the second round, I realized that walking backwards did not feel natural. I felt uncomfortable walking in the opposite direction. In my mind the landscape did not look the same.

I looked in all directions trying to identify the differences. But the big revelation came when I looked down at the ground. I noticed the mile markers looked backwards.

After staring at this I understood that I always walk in the direction of the mile markers. This is the simple reason that I always walk in the same direction! The detail of the mile markers is my guide.

This made me think that someone had decided the direction that I should walk this path. Long before I laid a foot on the path, a stranger had planned my route!

Then I related this to our walk in life. In Hebrews 12 the Bible tells us to run a race and offers guidance as to how to run it. But forget the verb "run" for a brief moment. I think the key word is RACE.

If you've ever participated in a race you will remember that the route is always planned BEFORE you get there! Participants only show up for jogging or walking. Participants do not give an opinion on the route or direction that everyone should run or walk! It would be illogical!

Similarly, it behooves us to participate in the race of life. Our only responsibility is to walk or run. Move forward step-by-step. Trusting that God has planned the route. Each mile is already marked.

But what to do when we walk in the opposite direction?

In this case we only need to turn around, look up, and walk again; as simple as repenting and starting over.