Epilogue

Sunday, February 3, 2019

The Hermitage Ranch

Bulverde, TX

“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both, long I stood…..”

Yes, my muse, Robert Frost, and I are at another one of those points in my life.

Perhaps, though, instead of ‘long I stood’ it would be more appropriate to say ‘long I stared….’

Because no matter how I’ve tried to continue, I just seem to keep staring at a blank page, trying to put into words the three days at Waterval. A fruitless task, because I’ve truly reached a point where words will not, cannot, express my experience.

My previous blogs have essentially been travelogues with bits of spiritual reflection thrown into the mix. You’ve already experienced the travelogue portion of this journey. I’ll include some more pictures of Cape Grace, but you already know that story.

And I’ll include some pictures of Waterval because it truly is a special place. But the beauty, as uplifting as the scenery is, pales in comparison to the essence of the place. I’m sure if I had visited in some other context the scenery would have been awesome. But the mystery of the place, and of this conference, is not to be found in the physical realm.

For this blog is different. It is a spiritual experience with some travelogue thrown in.

The reality is….and there’s that blank sheet of paper again, longing for words that can’t even be spoken, much less written.

I marvel at God’s extravagance...bringing people from literally all over the globe under the pretext of a retreat for those same people, when...the reality is….the reality is.....

All this has been just for me.

I pray the missionaries received something from our time together, but I can truthfully say I have received far more than I shared…’full measure, pressed down, running over.”

I started to write that it has been life changing. And that would be true, but it looks so sterile when I commit it to paper. To even hint at that begs the question...How? How has your life changed?

And once again I’m back at the point where words fail.

Perhaps better questions might be:

"Will others be able to tell?”

or

“Will it last?”

And the only answer I have is to turn again to my muse…

“I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence…”

If you’ve traveled with me before you know the way the poem ends.

But this time I have a deep abiding sense that the real adventure is just beginning!

Pictures: Waterval, Cape Grace-Again