The Promised Land was their place. A holy and special land they claimed as their own. A place that is part of them. They are part of the place. The land and the people became one.
I know that feeling.
It took me a while to get to the beach. Starting off in a mill town, I made my way to college and then to Seminary in a land far, far away before eventually landing on Tybee Island. There were fights along the way, mostly with myself, as I struggled to find my purpose in this life. A couple of false starts led to start all over again. Looking back on it I can see how God nudged me this way or that. And in the end, I found my Promised Land.
Like the chosen people I had to let go of the past and resolved myself to live in the present. I have lots of stories to tell about how I got here but I excommunicated the feelings behind them a long time ago. Mercifully, I have friends scattered in all sorts of places living in their own Promised Lands or still trying to find it.
I don't hold on to feelings from the past. They're just part of yesterday and you can't live in the present if you're forever dealing with the past. There have been good people and not so good, Saints and Sinners, who have been part of this journey and sometimes they come up in conversation but most are not part of my life today.
Today is Sarah, close friends, little girls and grown children, Palm trees, ocean breezes and a world that comes to me every day on my computer screen. It is travels to other lands, most seaside places, work that is rewarding and occasionally profitable, and the daily enjoyment of a sense of belonging. It is bike rides, walks holding hands, supper conversations we can never guess ahead of time, and trying to expand culinary options beyond McDonald's.
I talk to God here daily. We've found ways to communicate and I find myself listening harder than I ever have. I don't think God's that big on using words, preferring to make make it real. God uses feelings to get my attention.
It's my Promised Land.
If you're not in yours yet, I hope you keep at it. You can get there in spite of fights with yourself or others, a quiet God, and obstacles in the way. What you'll be most surprised about when you get to the Promised Land ... is you.
