Reflections for 4/12/11

"'He set his face to go to Jerusalem,' the Gospel says, and it was a journey from which he seems to have known that he would both never return and return always even unto the end of time and beyond."(F. Buechner "Listening to Your Life" p. 96)

I've never actually bought a one way ticket, not literally or figuratively.  I suppose there is a part of me that even when I leave a place, I or it never fully leaves.  There are places in my past that I have gone from, heading in a new direction, but somewhere in the rear view mirror of my mind those places still have a hook in me.

The times that I have ever returned, I know that I'm usually let down.  The place has changed, not always physically, but often emotionally for me.  And that is probably the way it should be.  Part of the memory of any place fades a little each day, and when you literally revisit, there are emotions that still come up, but I rarely say, I wish I were still here.

This is true for the town I grew up in, the college I graduated from, the seminary I graduated from and even the first church I served.  These places haven't gotten worse mind you, they are just different from what I remember them being, and they can't be that for me anymore.

Blessings,
Ed