2009 year end

This from my bi-weekly column in "First News", the weekly email of First Congregational United Church of Christ:

"First News" Week of 122909 Vol. 5 #53

IN THE PASTOR'S OWN WORDS:
High in the Absaroka Range, of southern Montana, off the proven trail, I and my two back packing companions discovered we were lost. Following an old map, we had left the main trail, headed west on a shortcut up to the pass which would take us down into the Paradise Valley of the Yellowstone and our pick up ride. The old trail had started off clearly enough but looking ahead we soon lost it in a glen. We sat down pondering our predicament. One of us looked back (east) to see where we had been. It was then that he noticed a blaze mark on a tree which we had not seen as we progressed up. Moving westward up toward the pass, we found other blaze marks and rock cairns by turning around and looking back east. It dawned on us that the old trail had been marked going east and we were headed west. That day I discovered the value of finding out where I was headed by stopping to look back in the direction I had come. It has been more than 35 years since that time in that mountain glen. Still the lesson learned about being lost and found, looking back to move ahead, inform my journey.
These closing days of 2009 provide that time to look back, to pause, perhaps to catch a breath before moving on. Time to drink in the view at the end of a year. Time to reflect upon the blaze marks – joys, sorrows, hopes, frustrations, regrets, and accomplishments that marked 2009. This is time for a pause in the midst of life’s journey for the sake of the moment, for the sake of the past, but finally for the sake of moving toward 2010.
Looking back in these closing hours of 2009, may each of us do what needs to be done in order to move ahead.
Blessings for the journey, Pastor Al