Journeys are tiring, confusing, and rewarding. I’ve found that to be true, haven’t you? I’ve struggled most of my life with trusting the right people. My tendency is to trust first and ask questions later, for the most part, but the journey has made me more careful-or jaded. I don’t know which. Life’s journey, I’m convinced, is 99.9% relationships. The rest is administration! That’s what makes relationship hurts go so deep. Jesus was all about relationships and staying on the journey despite the junk.
As a pastor, I have to be careful about how and what I share about my life, and Natalie is the only truly safe place. But as a human, I long for other safe spaces. Don’t you? It’s rare, though. I can’t help but sometimes feel that I’m alone when walking through the desert places on my journey. Oh yes, I walk through the Times Squares of life, the Main Streets of life, the “home sweet home” times of the journey. But then there are those “dad-burn” (I like Loretta Lynn) desert stretches of the journey. And there-oh, there, my friends-I have one source: Jesus.
And I trudge on, take a few sips of water, and keep moving. I always keep moving because if I stop, the heat and hot sand are too much to bear. Often, when I least expect it, I look ahead and see a face that says “safety” all over it. A face that says, “Trust me,” and always means it. Jesus is the ultimate safe place. And I “administer” and pray and pray some more. And keep moving.
I’m not going to arrive-I’m already there. The journey is the destination. And other people come into my life, teach me, love me, and move on their own journeys. And I’m glad. Because through the pain, in the end, it always feels right. Because of Him.
-Rev. James Williams