Stepping Stones

"... deep down in our quiet reflective moments of oneness with Divinity, we know there is no outside force that can steal away our spiritual strength. Every event, every encounter, every disaster, however despairing it may seem to the outward eye, may be met with spiritual success. A temporal tragedy need never result in a spiritual defeat. To the contrary, such "tragedies" have often proven the springboard for a sublime spiritual victory. One man accepts his deafness by excoriating God; another, Beethoven, scores the Ninth Symphony. One woman with loss of sight sees only darkness; another with greater vision, Helen Keller,becomes a beacon to a blinded world. One man responds to his disease with loss of faith; another, Job, declares,"Though he slay me, yet will I trust in Him (Job 13:15)."One man loses his wife and in the process his zest for life; another, Robert Browning, draws ever deeper from the well to pen with compelling passion poetry of divine dimensions. One man may respond to the seemingly disastrous events of life with vengeance and venom; another may respond with humble submissiveness to God's will, an appreciation for life as it is, and a firm resolve to be better. For one, lifes challenges and tragedies become stumbling blocks; for the other, they become stepping stones." - Tad Callister
I feel that in life, I have been anxious to climb to the highest heights of the greatest mountains, but have often found discomfort in the sweat which has lined my brow and the thorns which have pierced my reaching hands on my quest there. Yet, in quiet moments, I find that the journey is what shapes my destination. It is the pain, not the peace, of the climb which beckons me on. In life, it is the blood, and sweat, and tears that make us. "The greater the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheaply, we esteem too lightly." - Thomas Paine
It has been said that great battles do not make great men - great men make great battles. In looking to the future, I have learned that I decide my destiny. I am the maker of my dreams, and no longer seek to rely on others to make them for me. Let the battles begin.