Fellow Travelers ~ The Vital Nature

Greetings Dear Reader,

'No Man is an Island' – John Donne

No man is an island entire of itself; every man

is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;

if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe

is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as

well as any manner of thy friends or of thine

own were; any man's death diminishes me,

because I am involved in mankind.

And therefore, never send to know for whom

the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

When John Donne wrote that “no man is an island”, he was writing about death.  The bell that was tolling was the death bell he could hear from his sick bed.  When he told us to seek not for whom the bell tolls he reminds us that we all face death.

When we consider the fact that it is rare for someone to want to die alone, we must also consider that if this is to be prevented we need fellow travelers.  We need people who walk with us.  We need those who see us and value our part in the journey.  The makeup of our being is to connect and have community.

Pain and joy will be part of the journey.  We will travel through darkness and light.  We are not meant to do so alone., We need fellow travelers with whom we can share our joy and sorrow.  We not only benefit from sharing this but we give benefit to those with whom we share it.  It is the sharing of our pain and joy that brings us closer and makes us stronger.

The other aspect of this is perspective.  When we share our journey with fellow travelers we see that we are not the only ones who suffer or have joy.  We get the resounding reminder that we are not alone.  The first thing that the Father ever said was not good was that it is not good for man to be alone. 

The bell will toll for us one day.  We will reach the clearing at the end of the path.  The fellow travelers we have collected along the way will go on without anything of us but that which we shared with them whilst we walked together.  I want to be know for loving them.  I want to be remembered as someone who saw every encounter whether life-long or single serving as an opportunity to show kindness and love.  How about you Dear Reader?

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

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