Life is a journey. Along the way there are reasons to celebrate and moments to cry. There will be opportunities for questions and periods of silence. For the most part the journey is made alone. No one else can walk in our shoes. No one else can finish the race we started.
Very few people if not God alone knows just how much each of us have traveled and endured on our journey. God alone knows the fullness of the pain, hurt and disappointment. God alone sees every challenge, problem, and difficulty encountered along the way.
From time to time, there is a need, desire, and longing to invite someone else to enter, to walk and to be part of the journey.
As a Priest, I often feel so humbled and blessed when I am invited to walk with somebody as they make their journey. To sit, listen and be invited to share with someone’s pain or joy is something that changes me time and time again. This is not because I am “more special” or that I am a "better listener" than others, it is simply because I am a Priest! I am called to be another Christ. Sure at times it can be a challenge but over and over again I feel so blessed. I get to learn each time I am invited to walk with someone else. The thing I have learned most along the journey is just how little I know about the other person I am so privileged to accompany. At times I think I have a general idea about the other person, but most of the time I am just blown away as I listen to the story.
It is very easy no matter who we are to make judgments, form opinions, and to think we know best. We assume we know the entire story. Oh how little we do in fact know! Before we assume and think we can walk in the other persons’ shoes, let us take a moment to pause. Let us take a moment to listen and to really hear the story. Let us spend the moment just being with the other. For none of us know how long we will be privileged to walk with another in this journey we call life.
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