Planning and Preparation

Planning and preparation are two words we hear often at this time of year. For some, it can be a time to reflect on what went right this year and thinking about what their New Year resolutions will be. Others are busy with holiday shopping, decorating and filling the social calendar with events to round out the year. Still others with strong spiritual foundations are planning and preparing for religious events between now and the end of the year.

It was at this time of year when my mother died at the young age of 50. This past week was the 32nd anniversary of her passing. Shortly before the anniversary of her death, I look at old photos and remember a woman who loved her husband and sons. She made many friends and sacrificed much to make our house a home in every sense of the imagination. Her life had a meaningful influence on me in choosing a profession where I could help others establish their own home.

"The Station" by Robert Hastings, posted on the back of her funeral program, is shared below. Every one is on their own journey. I hope it resonates with you as much as it does for me.

Tucked away in our subconscious minds is an idyllic vision. We see ourselves on a long, long trip that almost spans the continent. We're traveling by passenger train, and out the windows we drink in the passing scene of cars on nearby highways, of children waving at a crossing, of cattle grazing on a distant hillside, of smoke pouring from a power plant, of row upon row of corn and wheat, of flatlands and valleys, of mountains and rolling hillsides, of city skylines and village halls, of biting winter and blazing summer and cavorting spring and docile fall.

But uppermost in our minds is the final destination. On a certain day at a certain hour we will pull into the station. There will be bands playing and flags waving. And once we get there so many wonderful dreams will come true. So many wishes will be fulfilled and so many pieces of our lives finally will be neatly fitted together like a completed jigsaw puzzle. How restlessly we pace the aisles, damning the minutes for loitering, waiting, waiting, waiting for the station.

However, sooner or later we must realize there is no one station, no one place to arrive at once and for all. The true joy of life is the trip. The station is only a dream. It constantly outdistances us.

When we get to the station that will be it!" we cry. Translated it means, "When I'm 18 that will be it! When I buy a new Mercedes, that will be it! When I put the last kid through college that will be it! When I have paid off the mortgage that will be it! When I win a promotion that will be it! When I reach the age of retirement that will be it! I shall live happily ever after!"

Unfortunately, once we get "it," then "it" disappears. The station somehow hides itself at the end of an endless track.

"Relish the moment" is a good motto, especially when coupled with Psalm 118:24: "This is the day which the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it." It isn't the burdens of today that drive men mad. Rather, it is regret over yesterday or fear of tomorrow. Regret and fear are twin thieves who would rob us of today.

So, stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead, climb more mountains, eat more ice cream, go barefoot more often, swim more rivers, watch more sunsets, laugh more and cry less. Life must be lived as we go along. The station will come soon enough.

"Refinancing or Buying, Contact Chris Ryan!