I can remember gazing speechless at the overpowering view of the Grand Canyon. It was a portrait of depth, colors, shapes and endless distance.
Suddenly the silence around me was broken by a couple who noisily pushed their way to the railing. They set up two different cameras plus a video cam. They posed for pictures alone and then together. Eight minutes later they were gone. As he packed away his gear I heard him say, "Come on, Sally! We've got it on camera. Let's go."
Right then and there I knew I had met tourists. They move through life on a tight
schedule. They gather snapshots, postcards and mementos, store them in albums and then store them in trunks and then talk about what has passed.
The Lord has invited us to walk with Him not as tourists, but rather as pilgrims. Pilgrims savor each moment. Each step is important because the Lord walks with us. He speaks to us out of where we are right now. He doesn't wait.
As pilgrims of the Lord, we travel our particular road with Him. We become who we are with each success, each crisis and each choice. Our holiness lies on this "well traveled road."
We don't need to rush forward to the next stop or to look back to wonder what was missed. Pilgrims yearn to discover meaning and understanding in embracing the time at hand. St. Francis de Sales touches this same point:
"If you want to recover lost time, do your best in the time that still remains."
With hope we look to our present time as a special gift from God. It is sacred because God's love is there and our ability to share this love is in this "time that still remains."