2 Week milestone!!!

Well, its been two weeks since I started out on my pilgrimage to nowhere! A fortnight ago I thought I was headed to somewhere in particular.  The road has instead revealed that it is the journey itself and not any contrived destination that is paramount.  Why else would I spend three days in Lewistown or two days with the the lovely Banwarts in Astoria and now possibly an entire week or more in Quincy on the Mississippi.

The Mississippi itself seems to be holding me back. I am filled with introspection and tentativeness today as I look across this mighty river...contemplating what awaits me in the that far undiscovered country just beyond the rushes and foxtails.

Had I resisted successfully the call westward I would never have met the man who plays Jesus in plays across the country, the men at the Lewistown Church of the Nazarene or that wonderful lady I met today who looked inside me and showed me a different path I could take to resolve a vexing problem back home. Then there is Bill Bassenet who filled yesterday evening with talk of ancient civilizations and philosophy. 

I will never forget Monica Thompson the holistic practitioner who having seen me hobbling and limping on the road to Rushville was filled with pity and invited me to her home offering me a massage, supper, a soft bed and the seemingly outdated generosity of a fellow human being.

What you have done for the least of these you have done for me said Christ 2000 years ago.

Kevin Miller the man from Beardstown who took me to Walmart and bought me things he thought I needed to continue my trudging westward and who fed me like I was visiting royalty...how could I forget you! Or Dave LeGrande who handed me $150 and Brett Pullins who drove from Groveland to the outer reaches of Kingston Mines to wish me well on my journey and hand me $55.

Or, consider Jim Burns who told me just today that long ago during his yesterdays he too contemplated such a pilgrimage but due to the vagaries of life and criticism that it would be irresponsible he did not undertake the quest...he then handed me $50 and told me to go for it and never look back!

As evening finds me writing this summary my thoughts drift back to yesterday when destiny decided to introduce me to that wonderful young vibrant Bickhaus family created by Mike and Kristine. They poignantly reminded me of a another family started by a different young couple in their 20s back in the middle 80s during the last century...Lisa and Bruce Schoenbein.

These last two weeks have been nothing less than transformative. I have started to live in the moment, I have begun a healing process that allows me to graciously accept the largesse and gifts of others...and more importantly to depend on my Heavenly Father and Creator as my provider...no longer being anxious for my daily bread.  I have become like the sparrows of the air and the lilies of the field which wait on the Master for their sustenance. 

I am really liking this new person being re-born out here on the wind swept western prairies surrounding the wilderness of Rt 24!