I remember several years ago when my friend, Kathryn, was explaining why it was important to her to drive to her planned spiritual retreat experience at a desert monastery in the southwest. She explained that taking a plane would negate the sense of distance that she was going to retreat and that by driving she would have a more complete experience of separation from NC. I thought she was crazy then, and I suspect that many people have thought we were crazy when hearing how our family drives back and forth between Chiapas and North Carolina. But I get it now....
I get it that there's more than simply reaching one's destination and that there are important joys to be experienced along the way. On this most recent journey back to Ocosingo, we had a chance to reconnect with friends and family that we hadn't seen in a long time, spent some time at the D'Iberville Volunteer Camp, enjoyed a stop at the Melody Lane Spiritual Renewal Center in Mission, TX, and sampled some Northern Mexico cuisine. Had we flown, we would have missed hearing a toddler talk about his new baby brother who's due to be born in April. We would have missed a coffee house visit that I wouldn't trade for anything, and we would never have met the lady doing the documentary on Katrina recovery efforts in Mississippi. I can't say I'd be sad to have missed the topes and the elephant traps along the terrible Veracruz highways or the sore fanny from so many hours in the car, but I'd trade those minor inconveniences any day for the experiences of the journey.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment