The Journey

This weekend among the many festivities in honor of my Birthday Month Kick Off, one of the best was having the privlidge of moving Joshua's sister home from school for the summer. I sat on the bench outside of her dorm on a cigarette break and people watched for a few minutes. It was very uplifting to watch as the student ran about with family and friends, scurrying to empty their lives from these tiny dorm rooms, into cars and vans to take them back to otheir place of origin. Some will return in the Fall, other were saying final goodbyes. Seniors are stepping into the real world, Freshmen are no longer at the bottom of the ladder, Sophomores were becoming upperclassmen, and Juniors now face the reality that it will all be over in just a year. Whatever level they are at, they were excited, excited about their point in the journey.

That evening, two very good friends took me to Boston to see the new Star Trek movie, where I saw a continuation of this theme. A young James T. Kirk, scarred by the early death of his father is there at the launching of the Enterprise. His smart ass rebeliousness nearly leads to his character's demise, until a wise voice from the future informs him of his true destiny. This revelation inspires him to act rightly, and he takes his place as he should be, the Captain of the Enterprise.

The students of Salve Regina who I watched on Friday afternoon do not have the benefit of a foresight from the future. Nor do we either. They will never know what effect their relationships on each other will have in future days. The friendship between Kirk and Spock was a relationship that down the road would save the universe countless times over, and before Kirks revelation, that friendship nearly never forms.

Granted, Star Trek is scienece fiction, I know I dont often reveal that I understand that concept, but I do. However, the point is still the same. We really dont know how we all play into eachother's journey, but as the days, and years go on, we will slowly see. We will never know how we played into other's journey, and that is a question to which we may never have the answer.

Let's all do the best we can to be a positive effect in other people's journeys...lets remember non of us are on the journey alone. The journey is always more successful with a team. Kirk had a strong first officer, and a strong crew...to the students out there, those graduating and those who aren't .... enjoy your summer's rest, it's well deserved.