Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: “Life is a Journey, not a destination.” What exactly did he mean by that phrase? Well let’s look at the definition of the two key words in the phrase: journey and destination. A destination is a place you arrive at — an endpoint. Journey is “an act of traveling from one place to another.” So I guess Emerson means that we shouldn’t look at our life as one place to stop, but as an experience of traveling from stop to another.
Where are we traveling to on our life journey? What should our journey look like?
Are there certain things that we should pack for our journey? Are there places we should avoid? Is it kind of like planning a vacation? Taking certain roads but avoiding others, packing our suitcases in anticipation of good and bad weather?
Jo Hands tells us that there are some things we should do more as we are traveling along, and there are some things we should do less.
For example, we should do more of what makes us happy, what we are good at, what develops and stretches us, and we should associate more with people that inspire and challenge us.
However, we should do less of what makes us miserable, uninspired and what we know in our gut it’s good for us.
I think in both cases — do more, or do less, we have a good bit of choice in the matter.
It’s almost like a choose-your-own adventure book. Are you familiar with those? Kids can literally pick which direction characters in the book are going to take.
The reality is that life IS like a choose your own adventure, but we all know that there are things that we can’t control what will land in our lap. We never know what is just around the bend. We are sometimes surprised by incredibly good news, or by unbelievable tragedy.
On our journey, there will be great days, there will be speed bumps, and there will be moments so sad that we will be stopped in our tracks. The hardest days will demonstrate to us our tenacity, our passion, and our ability to just keep going. While we are in the middle of that moment it will seem so overwhelming that we just don’t think we can get through it. But then we do, and then we are able to reflect back and feel proud that we managed to get through it.
Occasionally as we travel along we should take a breather and reflect on what we have achieved, where are are, and how we are doing. We need to consider whether or not we need to do anything to correct our course. We need to relish in the difficulties we have overcome and feel good about our growth and our success.
In like manner, we might think about our spiritual journey. We are allowed to stop and reflect on how we are doing. On what we believe, and why we believe it. We need to consider whether or not we need to do anything to correct our spiritual course.
And there is no mistaking sometimes the journey is really really difficult. Sometimes we feel completely ill-equipped to manage a situation.
Kind of like how I felt when I realized I was going to be directing 60 kids onstage, and responsible for another dozen backstage. Along my life journey as a director, I had never directed that many cast members who were so young.
It has been an off-the-map experience for me, but it has been a remarkable experience. Like all of our journeys, when we wander away from our comfort zone and get into unknown territory, we end up growing and learning the most. We find ourselves inspired by the very thing that is frightening or challenging. And then we feel a weird sense of accomplishment and we feel energized for the journey ahead.
Additionally, it is incredibly important that we remember that we are not traveling alone on our journey. Psalm 23 reminds us that God is always with us. The psalm was written as a song to God.
“Even if I walk through a very dark valley, I will not be afraid because you are with me.” — Psalm 23:4 (International Children’s Bible)
Jean d’Ormesson has written a very interesting poem called The Train of Life, and it goes like this:
The Train of Life
At birth, we boarded the train of life and met our parents,
and we believed that they would always travel by our side.
However, at some station, our parents would step down from the train,
leaving us on life's journey alone.
As time goes by, some significant people will board the train:
siblings, other children, friends, and even the love of our life.
Many will step down and leave a permanent vacuum.
Others will go so unnoticed that we won't realize that they vacated their seats!
This train ride has been a mixture of joy, sorrow, fantasy,
expectations, hellos, goodbyes, and farewells.
A successful journey consists of having a good relationship with all passengers,
requiring that we give the best of ourselves.
The mystery that prevails is that we do not know at
which station we ourselves will step down.
Thus, we must try to travel along the track of life in the best possible way -
loving, forgiving, giving, and sharing.
When the time comes for us to step down and leave our seat empty -
we should leave behind beautiful memories for
those who continue to travel on the train of life. Let’s remember to thank our Creator
for giving us life to participate in this journey.
Like many musicals, the songs for the musical Willy Wonka were written by a song-writer team made up of two men: Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley. Leslie Bricusse’s favorite song that he has written throughout his very prolific lifetime is the song Pure Imagination that begins the production of Willy Wonka. He also believes it will be his most lasting legacy. Written over 50 years ago, Pure Imagination has been covered by multiple people and groups, including Lou Rawls and Maroon 5.
“Come with me and you’ll be in a world of pure imagination. Take a look and you’ll see into your imagination.” Sara Watkins who covered the song on a recent album said in an interview that out of nowhere, the song rescued her when she was in a slump.
As she sang the words, she remembers how she felt at a different time, when she was happy.
She stated, “I remembered there is joy, there is happiness, there is imagination, there is this world outside of just this heavy feeling that I have right now.” — Sara Watkins
Of his lyrics, Leslie Bricusse has said that when he wrote the song, he realized that his words were a good thought for people, especially young people, to carry with them through life. The last line of the song is this: “You’ll be free if you truly wish to be.” Bricusse believes those words to be the most important line in the musical, because it is a reflective thought on how to make a life work.
So could it be, that the children’s musical Willy Wonka has some spiritual significance, and has a great deal to teach us about our life journey? I happen to believe it does.
On our life journey, we don’t always know where we are going, do we? We are always surprised and disappointed, we go through hills and valleys, we have good times and bad times. Sometimes we travel alone, sometimes we are with people and often the people we travel with change. We don’t know what is just around the bend. We can’t plan for the things that happen. But there are a few ways to make the journey better: we can remember that God is with us as we travel, we can think positive, and we can use our imagination to recall beautiful memories, and to help us to visualize a better outcome. Pretty sound advice, I believe.
Jawaharial Nehru (Yawharial NEHRU) has written: “We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” Amen.
Alexander Volkov has written these powerful words: “Your journey never ends. Life has a way of changing things in incredible ways.” — Alexander Volov
May we look forward to the incredible changes that come our way as we continue our life journey.
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