Fr. Frank Majka, SJ – The Bridge

Tracking the Trip

I flew from Milwaukee to Denver recently. Embedded in the back of the seat in front of me was a small TV screen, one of the channels displaying a map of the Midwest. Superimposed was a small white airplane, which moved to show the progress of the trip. I though to myself, Wouldn’t it be something if we could see our lives that way — getting the whole view, not just a glimpse?

But of course, we don’t how far we are from our journey’s end, only that we haven’t arrived yet. We can see what is coming only one day at a time, sometimes only one hour at a time, and sometimes even less than that.

Maybe that’s all to the good, because if we knew when our life would end, many of us might have little reason to try to live well every day. Ignorance of how close we are to the end of our journey makes it possible for us to be like the wise virgins in the gospel story — always alert for the Bridegroom’s arrival.