Streams of Mercy
One of my special joys these days is reading The Walk Series, by Richard Paul Evans, with a group of friends in my congregation. From one of America’s most beloved and best- selling storytellers comes an astonishing tale of life and death, love and second chances, and why sometimes the best way to heal your own suffering is by helping to heal someone else’s.
Each book in The Walk Series, is a journal of the journey made by Alan Christoffersen, a once successful advertising executive, who loses his wife, his home, and his business in a matter of days. He leaves everything he knows behind and sets off on an extraordinary cross-country journey, carrying only a backpack. In search of hope, he plans to walk to Key West, the farthest destination on his map.
I’m struck by the truth of this quote from his travel journal: “We plan our lives in long, unbroken stretches that intersect our dreams the way highways connect the city dots on a road map. But in the end we learn that life is lived in the side roads, alleys, and detours…Life is what happens to us while we’re planning something else…Journeys rarely take us where we think we’re going…I’m not sure if I’m walking away from the past or toward the future.” I’ve known such moments in my life, and I’m sure many of you have as well.
When speaking of the death of his wife, he says she will always be a part of him, wherever he is - ”The question is what part? A spring of gratitude or a fountain of bitterness?” We all have to decide what part past experiences that we carry with us will play as life goes on. “The price for joy is sadness; the price for having is loss.”
Another thought to ponder: “The assumption of time is one of humanity’s greatest follies. We tell ourselves that there’s always tomorrow, when we can no more predict tomorrow than we can the weather. Procrastination is the thief of dreams.”
Taking the journey through these books with friends is a special gift! I give thanks for this journey and for “streams of mercy” to carry us through.
Elizabeth