A Journey

I traveled 700 miles to seminary a little over a year and a half ago and began a new chapter of my journey in life. It was exciting coming to a new city, a big city, the Midwest. It was scary, too. Many of my friends who'd attended seminary seemed, to me, much more equipped, confident and  convinced that seminary was where their journey was leading them. Their journeys had led them to seminary sooner than me and to a seminary much closer to home and much more sensible (seemingly). I knew my journey wasn't leading my down the same sort of path as my friends, and I trust where my journey has taken me. For the last few months, I've been questioning where my journey will take me in the next couple of years. I've always felt a call to travel overseas to learn more about and experience another culture, and I have finally committed to doing so. This summer I hope to spend at least a month in South Africa to see, hear and study the journeys of my brothers and sisters there.

Journeys are hard to understand for a structure-craving "J" like me. There are endless options, paths, and directions that one can take. A journey doesn't have a clear-cut ending. It's not like a race that you can finish or a puzzle you can put together. Being on a journey is exciting and scary. Sometimes it helps to have some friends with you on the journey.

Tonight I stood in a circle with the UCM students and prayed with them as we go through the journey of Lent together. I prayed that our sights would be set on the journey that is bigger than papers and finals, internships and spring break plans. I prayed that we would walk with one another on our journeys and that we would see those around us who are homeless, trapped in war-torn areas, sick, hopeless or lonely.

I have not been homeless, trapped in a war-torn area, unbearably or uncertainly sick. I pray for those who experience these things on their journeys, and I hope to work for peace, healing and reconciliation for these and many others as I move through my journey. My journey has brought hopelessness and loneliness, and I struggle to overcome these things. It might seem bearable in comparison to some struggles, but I've learned that each person's journey is different and that my struggles are not inconsequential or insignificant. They are real and they are powerful. I struggle this Lent to be more authentic and vulnerable. The struggle to do this is one that has not been and will not be isolated to one season of Lent, but instead it is a struggle that invades and pervades my journey. I know that the journey of Lent ends with Easter, and while I pray that my tendency to jump toward my favorite holiday and celebration will be set aside in exchange for prayer, reflection and openness to where this journey might take me and how God calls me to vulnerability.