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Good morning.

Can it be Friday already? Yes. Another week is drawing to a close. For some of us, we’ll be glad to see the back of it – for others, it will have been a week that they will remember forever. As we journey through life, we never know what the people we pass on the way, are going through. What sort of day they’re having, what sort of news they’ve had, what sort of disappointment or relationship difficulty they’re going through.

Sometimes I lead pilgrimages to the Holy Land – to Jerusalem. And when we’re at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem, the thoughts of the pilgrims turn to the Cross – a symbol of so much suffering and pain. And people reflect on what we often call, their own crosses, the burdens that they carry with them through life. It’s a humbling experience, as often some of the most cheerful people, speak of their lives of great suffering, unhappiness, and disappointment.

There are stories of addiction, lost relationships, sickness and death. There are also stories of quiet heroism, some tears, and laughs – lots of laughs.

At a certain level, I like to see us all as pilgrims through life. The road of life is often winding, it can take us in directions sometimes we would rather not go. On paths we would not choose.

And yet often on these paths, we meet people who become lifelong friends, and we experience things which enrich, and enhance our lives and change our perspectives.

This morning, I pray to have the courage to keep going along the journey, even when the way ahead seems to be uncertain.

Amen.