The Journey’s End

I didn’t want to get here.  To “over”.  “Done”.  So I think that’s why I delayed these past weeks getting to this final part of our trip to India.  I wasn’t yet ready for it to be over, and over once again, in the sharing of the stories.  But all journeys reach an end.  And this has been a good journey.

And as can happen at the end of a journey, sometimes things begin to come together.  We begin to realize that having gone through this, we are seeing things in a different way.  Something has shifted and changed.    It might take a while to see that. A wise friend once told me that one-third of the trip is in the planning, one-third in the trip itself, and a third in the return and putting together pieces and learning.

We ended our India trip in the state of Kerala on the southwest coast.  It’s been a place of “coming together” of many diverse cultures, religions, peoples and traditions.   Many flocked here to the “spice coast” seeking black gold (pepper) and other spices.   It’s the place that Columbus was looking for when he ended up on the beach in Barbados.

A Jewish community has been here for countless generations.  One tradition tells it that the Queen of Sheba told King Solomon about Kerala and it was here that he got the teak that he used to build the temple.  (See 1 Kings 10)  Jews were welcomed here after they were expelled from Spain in the Inquisition.

Christians are here too and have been since the beginning centuries of Christianity.  One tradition has it that St. Thomas (of “Doubting Thomas” fame, see John 20:24-29) founded the first Christian community here in the first century.

Our tour guide Markose was showing us around a palace in Kerala.  We stood in front of a tapestry from a Hindu story called The Ramayana. He explained the scene to us. Then he stepped out of his role as tour guide. And into the role of sage. He said,

“All of us need a base for our lives. We can’t live good lives from scratch.”

Then we went on with the tour.

Markose was telling us we need to build our lives on some source of wisdom. Whether that base is a faith, a philosophy, or a tradition, it has to be big enough and flexible enough to guide the way we live as we change and as the world we live in changes. Our base gives us our values. Our base helps us make wise decisions and gives us a vision of what we’re living for. Without a base, Markose said, we live from scratch. We make it up as we go along. We have no center or compass. Living like that, Markose said, can’t help us build a more loving world.

Why venture to a far off place?  Why travel?

Some travel to get away from the trials and tribulations of home.

Others travel to gain a new perspective that they can take home.

Sometimes you plan a long time for a journey.

Other times, you are on a journey that you never expected to be on.  It happened to you while you were planning for something else.  A friend of mine had been planning for months a big trip overseas.  Right before she was to leave, she pulled out her back.  She ended up having a very different trip than she expected, lying on her back in bed, but one as she reflected on it, was full of learning as well.  No, not the journey she planned but the journey she got.

Often journeys can help us find our “base” again – or help us recognize our need for one.

And no, you really don’t have to “go” anywhere far away for that.  It can happen in the surprise of a January storm that leaves you stuck at the end of a steep icy street at home, out of the swing of normal routines and plans.  A chance to be in time differently, maybe to see some things differently.

I’ve talked to lots of people about what their days snowed in were like.  For some, pure bliss.  For others feeling cooped up, glad it is now over.  For some nestling in, for others feeling claustrophobic.  For me it was days of trekking many miles up and down Capital Hill as I walked to the hospital, to church, a few appointments that weren’t

cancelled.  It was a time to reflect and write, read and make connections in some different ways.

Where are you today?

What journey are you on?   Is it beginning?  Ending?  Are you in the middle of it?

And on this journey, what is your base? What do you know that helps you ground yourself and make sense of this journey even while you are in the midst of it?

On this journey to India I gained a new appreciation of Hinduism and inspiration about the way it seamlessly interconnects with everyday life and death.

I saw and experienced at an ashram a community full of young people hungry for a deep spiritual connection.

I found my heart and pure joy in the mountains of Nepal.

I was inspired anew by the life and witness of Mahatma Gandhi.

I have stories to share and more to reflect on.

I am reminded that when one journey ends, another has already begun.

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