Journey of Life

WANNA TAKE A DRIVE? I'VE BEEN WANTING TO BUT WITH THE COST OF GAS LATELY AND THE WEAR AND TEAR ON MY CAR FROM THE POT HOLES AND BUMPS IN THE ROAD, IT'S NOT EXACTLY BEEN THE BEST OF IDEAS. OH, I'VE FOUND MYSELF ON A FEW COUNTRY ROADS WHILE I TOOK MY SWEET TIME GETTING BACK TO AN EMPTY HOUSE BUT I'VE ALSO FOUND MYSELF MERELY SITTING IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT WHILE STILL PARKED IN THE GARAGE, TOO. NOT SURE WHAT DRIVES ME TO ACTUALLY START THE CAR ANYMORE. WHY BOTHER WHEN I JUST GET LOST…BUT THAT'S JUST LIFE; IT'S FULL OF IMPASSES, ROAD BLOCKS AND DEAD ENDS, DETOURS HERE AND ROADS CLOSED THERE…

I DON'T HAVE A ONE-OFF PROTOTYPE WITH ALL THE BELLS AND WHISTLES, GPS NAVIGATION AND ON-STAR CAPABILITIES JUST INCASE I LOCK MYSELF INSIDE THE DAMN THING BUT I DO HAVE THE FAMILY SEDAN THAT'S PARKED CATTYWHOMPUS IN THE GARAGE AMIDST ALL THE DAILY CLUTTER THAT UNFORTUNATELY HAS BECOME DENTED AND DUSTY AND THE GAS HAS BEGUN TO EVAPORATE FROM SITTING TOO LONG. SOME DAYS I PUSH MYSELF IN TO THE DRIVER'S SEAT WANTING TO BLOW THE COBWEBS OUT AND I QUICKLY REALIZE THAT IT DOESN'T DRIVE AS SMOOTH AS IT USED TO, THE STEERING IS LOOSE AND THEN I FIND MYSELF ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD A LITTLE TOO FAR FROM HOME WITH A BLOW OUT...

WHAT THEN? WELL, I CURSE THE WORLD AND ITS MAKER FOR LEAVING ME STRANDED, CALL A TOW TRUCK AND HAVE IT DELIVERED TO THE HOMETOWN MECHANIC WHO IS SURE THAT HE CAN FIX IT, NO PROBLEM. HE THEN TEMPORARILY PLACES THE SPARE ON WHILE EXPLAINING DRY ROT, FILLS IT UP WITH NEW GAS AND CHARGES ME AN EXORBANT PRICE AS I DRIVE THE VEHICLE SLOWLY BACK TO THE GARAGE IT'S SAT IN FOR YEARS TIL THE NEXT TIME I HAVE THAT FOOL NOTION TO DO IT AGAIN.

OBVIOUSLY, I'VE NEVER LEARN MY LESSON SINCE I CONTINUALLY TRY TO MAKE IT A LITTLE BIT FURTHER DOWN THE ROAD THAN THE LAST TIME AND I'M SURE, I'LL HAVE NO ONE TO BLAME BUT MY SELF WHEN THE TIRE GIVES OVER TO THE DRY ROT AND I SWURVE TO AVOID THAT HEAD ON COLLISION I COULD HAVE PREVENTED HAD I BEEN PAYING ATTENTION IN THE FIRST PLACE.

TODAY, INSTEAD, I THINK I'M GOING TO SIT IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT A LITTLE BIT LONGER, NOT GOING ANYWHERE, AND JUST PONDER WHAT AND WHERE I SHOULD GO INSTEAD OF GETTING AHEAD OF MYSELF AND ULTIMATELY BECOMING A CASUALTY. TO BE HONEST, I'M LOST IN MY OWN DRIVEWAY…

I'M SURE THERE ARE THOSE WHO WOULD ARGUE WITH ME ABOUT WHERE THE JOURNEY LIFE IS SUPPOSED TO TAKE ME AS I SIT HERE AND DESCRIBE MY LACK OF DIRECTION. BUT I CAN SURELY COME BACK AT THOSE WHO BOASTFULLY DECLARE THEIR MAPS ACCURATE BY ASKING THEM A SIMPLE QUESTION.

IF YOU LOOKED ON YOUR MAP, CAN YOU SHOW ME WHERE YOU ARE AT THIS VERY MOMENT?

"WELL SURE" AS THEY CHEERFULLY POINT TO ONE LOCATION OR ANOTHER. "RIGHT…HERE"

AND WHERE IS "HERE"? CAN THEY TELL ME EXACTLY WHERE "HERE" IS? IS IT A PLACE OR A LANDMARK OR IS IT A METAPHORICALLY BASED IDEA OF WHERE LIFE HAS LED YOU TO BE? WHERE ARE YOU GOING FROM HERE, IF THAT IS THE PLACE THAT YOU INDEED ARE? IS THERE A POINT B TO YOUR POINT A? IS LIFE'S JOURNEY BETTER TAKEN FROM A SCENIC PERSPECTIVE OR THE SHORTEST DISTANCE?

HOW DID YOU ARRIVE AT YOUR DESTINATION?

I GOT TO THINKING OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT AND BODY AS A WHOLE. YES, THE JOURNEY THROUGH LIFE NEEDS TO BE LED BUT WHAT "TAKES" A PERSON ON THAT JOURNEY? IS IT WISDOM TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT PATH? NO. IS IT COURAGE TO PLACE THE FIRST STEP? NO. IS IT THE DETERMINATION OF WILL THAT ENCOURAGES A PERSON TO SEARCH FOR BETTER? ONCE AGAIN, NO.

WE ARE BORN OF FLESH AND BLOOD, WEAK AND IGNORANT AND IN TIME, OUR BODIES BECOME THE ULTIMATE ALL TERRAIN VEHICLE. IT'S CUSTOMIZABLE, IT'S UNIQUE…IT'S NOT GOING TO DO A DAMN THING SITTING IN THE GARAGE, IS IT? WHAT FUELS IT?

WELL, NONE OTHER THAN…THE SOUL. IT'S OUR AWARENESS, OUR CONSCIOUSNESS; IT'S THE BREATH OF LIFE. EVEN IN LITERAL TERMS, SOUL IS DESCRIBED AS "SELF, LIFE, MIND, DESIRE AND PASSION", IT'S WHAT DRIVES THE HUMAN SPIRIT DOWN THE PATH OF LIFE. SO WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE ARE DEVOID OF SUCH A THING?

WE BECOME LOST. WE BEGIN TO CURSE THE WORLD AND ITS CREATOR FOR LEAVING US STRANDED IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. WE SIT IN OBSCURITY, COLLECTING DUST, WE BEGIN TO ROT FROM WITH IN…OR WORSE YET TRAGICALLY BECOMING A FATALITY OF OUR OWN NEGLECT. SOUND FAMILIAR?

SO I ASKED THOSE WHO WOULD ARGUE MY LACK OF DIRECTION, THE ONES WHO MERELY STATED "HERE", WHERE WAS "HERE"? MOST COULD NOT TELL ME FOR ONE SIMPLE REASON. THEY WERE JUST AS LOST AS I WAS. JUST BECAUSE THEY HAVE DIRECTION, DOES NOT MEAN THAT THEY HAD THEIR PURPOSE OR A PASSIONATE DESIRE TO GO, AND IN DOING SO, MERELY COASTING DOWN THE PATH OF LIFE AND EVENTUALLY WILL COME TO A COMPLETE STOP EITHER WITH A SPIT AND SPUTTER OR A HEAD ON COLLISION WITH LIFE ITSELF AS I HAD.

SOMEONE ONCE TOLD ME THAT THE SOUL WAS MERELY A VESSEL OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT AND THAT VESSEL WAS THE VERY THING THAT TOOK THE HUMAN SPECIES DOWN THE PATH OF LIFE. I BELIEVE THEY WERE WRONG. I BELIEVE THAT THE SOUL IS THE FUEL THAT DELIVERS THE HUMAN SPIRIT TO A GREATER PURPOSE AT THE END OF THEIR JOURNEY THROUGH LIFE. THING IS, BEING HUMAN THAT IS, WE ARE FRAGILE AND PRONE TO FAILURE AND MUST TAKE GREAT CARE OF THIS VESSEL...OTHERWISE WE'LL NEVER ARRIVE AT OUR DESTINATION,BECOME LOST, AND AIMLESSLY WANDER ABOUT CREATION IN SEARCH OF THE MEANING OF LIFE. WHATEVER THAT MAY BE, FOR IT'S DIFFERENT FOR EVERY INDIVIDUAL.

SO WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? IS THERE A GAS STATION IN THE VACINITY THAT HANDLES SUPER UNLEADED PHILOSOPHY OR MAPS TO "WITHIN", CONSIDERING THAT IS WHERE OUR JOURNEY SHOULD BEGIN? AND I'M NOT SURE, BUT I BELIEVE MY VEHICLE MIGHT RUN ALTERNATIVE FUELS LIKE FAITH AND SPIRITUALITY AS WELL. WORTH A SHOT IF IT MIGHT SET ME DOWN A MORE ENLIGHTED PATH THAN THE STAGNANT AND DUSTY ONE THAT I AM ON AS I SIT IN MY DRIVEWAY LOST.