The truck just pulled up to drop off the “pod,” in which all our belongings will be stored for the next week or so. Tomorrow I journey to Rhode Island for an annual church conference, and the day after my return we move into a new apartment. A few weeks after that we travel to North Carolina, Washington, D.C., and New York City by plane, train, and automobile.
“Journey” is on my mind-and everything that goes with it. Here and there. Home and away. Taking only what you need. Seeking and finding.
Maybe you will be journeying this summer, too. This poem by Mark Strand might be worth packing.
See you Sunday,
Bret
__
A journey continues until it stops
A journey that stops is no longer a journey
A journey loses thing on its way
A journey passes through things, thing pass through it
When a journey is over, it loses itself to a place
When a journey remembers, it begins a journal
Which is a new journey about an old journey
A journey over time is different from a journey into time
An actual journey is into the future
A reflective journey is into the past
***
A journey always begins in a place called Here
Pack your bags and imagine your journey
Unpack your bags and imagine your journey is done
***
If you’re afraid of a journey, don’t buy shoes
~ Mark Strand from Chicken, Shadow, Moon & More