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For Those Who Have Far to Travel - a poem by Jan Richardson
Thursday 7th April 2022
Sue Peachey
As an Associate Leader with Journeying, this poem resonates with me as I feel it so accurately describes our daily journeys in life. We are all pilgrims who encounter obstacles and doubts along the way, but by keeping going we can be reassured that the journey is worthwhile. Sue Peachey
For Those Who Have Far to Travel
An Epiphany Blessing
If you could see
the journey whole,
you might never
undertake it,
might never dare
the first step
that propels you
from the place
you have known
toward the place
you know not.
Call it
one of the mercies
of the road:
that we see it
only by stages
as it opens
before us,
as it comes into
our keeping,
step by
single step.
There is nothing
for it
but to go,
and by our going
take the vows
the pilgrim takes:
to be faithful to
the next step;
to rely on more
than the map;
to heed the signposts
of intuition and dream;
to follow the star
that only you
will recognise;
to keep an open eye
for the wonders that
attend the path;
to press on
beyond distractions,
beyond fatigue,
beyond what would
tempt you
from the way.
There are vows
that only you
will know:
the secret promises
for your particular path
and the new ones
you will need to make
when the road
is revealed
by turns
you could not
have foreseen.
Keep them, break them,
make them again;
each promise becomes
part of the path,
each choice creates
the road
that will take you
to the place
where at last
you will kneel
to offer the gift
most needed -
the gift that only you
can give -
before turning to go
home by
another way.
© Jan Richardson
from Circle of Grace: A Book of Blessings for the Seasons
With kind permission from Jan Richardson