(Video courtesy of YouTube. Written and narrated by the late Geoffery Lewis. Inspirational Navigations holds no rights to this video.)
“Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it
yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching
forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward
the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14
The Valley, performed by
Geoffery Lewis and Celestial Navigations, tells a compelling story that I
believe our Father would approve of. It
tells of a young man’s journey through life, reaching his next destination point. He realizes that his journey was burdened by
what he continued to carry with him from place to place, through the
years. It was slowing him down. It was holding him back. He knew in his heart that if he was going to
fully appreciate the experience of his new surroundings, changes would have to
be made. The weights of the past would
have to be set loose. Only upon taking
that rejuvenating step, was he able to enter his new realm unencumbered and
with a newfound peace of mind.
Before
I moved from Texas to Colorado, I had to do some purging of my own. Granted, I was never much of a packrat but, I
still had material possessions that were no longer relevant to my life. I had plenty of memories through photos and a
few sentimental items but, I still kept hold of too many things. Things that I wasn’t even aware of because,
they became lost and forgotten in the fragments of my mind. If I retained every little bits and pieces of
everything that I have collected, in the past, I would have mere boxes of junk. They weren’t things that would serve any
fresh purpose in my life. So, out they
went. Much like the narrator in the
story, I felt “taller” upon doing this.
I was taking the weights off my shoulders so I could stand
straighter. My steps became lighter, not
more tasking. I felt much more freedom.
Imagine,
filling a backpack with large rocks. The
pack is as full as you can make it. You
go out for a long hike. At first, it’s
not too difficult. As you continue
walking, the muscles in your legs start to get sore. You feel the weight of the pack pressing down
on your shoulders. Your back begins to
hurt, due to the imbalance of weight.
Moving onward becomes more of a struggle.
Now,
as you hike, you pause, remove a rock from your pack and continue forward. You may still feel the soreness and ache in
your body. However, you also notice a
little bit of relief from removing some of the weight. Take away another rock. You feel yourself starting to take longer,
easier strides again. The pain in your back
lessens. Toss another rock. Your pace increases. You can cover more ground in less time. Chuck another rock away. Your breathing comes with less of an
effort. You feel like taking that next
upward slope at a light jog, due to the decrease in the amount of energy you
are forced to exert. You get the point!
You
can burden yourself just as much with anchoring yourself to the past as you can
by keeping material items from the past.
Letting go and moving forward is the only way to rejuvenate and reinvent
yourself. While my past makes me the
person I am today, I do not LIVE in the past.
I LEAVE IT in the past. I have my
fond memories. I have photos to share
with my family of those precious moments.
I have just enough material items to relate to some of those moments
but, they take a very small percentage of my “backpack”. I keep my feet moving forward. My back gets straighter and I “grow” taller
in Christ.
How
full or burdensome is the backpack you carry in life? Is it too full for new experiences? Is the past still holding you down? Remove what is slowing you down and taking up
too much space. You will be much more
spiritually in tune with our Maker’s plans when you do.
