The Journey
There is a very beautiful poem by Rabbi Alvin Fine of Temple Emanu-El in San Francisco. For many decades this poem was included in the Hebrew Union prayer book. It is often recited before the Mourner’s Kaddish, a Jewish blessing that mourners recite when someone has died.
Birth is a beginning
And death a destination
And life is a journey
From childhood to maturity
And youth to age
From innocence to awareness
And ignorance to knowing
From foolishness to discretion
And then perhaps to wisdom
From weakness to strength
Or strength to weakness
Often back again
From health to sickness
And back, we pray, to health again
From offense to forgiveness
From loneliness to love
From joy to gratitude
From pain to compassion
And grief to understanding
From fear to faith
From defeat to defeat to defeat
Until, looking backward or ahead
We see that victory lies
Not at some high place along the way
But in having made the journey, stage by stage,
A sacred pilgrimage
Birth is a beginning
And death a destination
But life is a journey
A sacred pilgrimage
To life everlasting
Ralph Waldo Emerson is often credited with the following:
“Life is a journey, not a destination. To finish the moment, to find the journey’s end in every step of the road, to live the greatest number of good hours, is wisdom.”
In 1993 the rock band Aerosmith released the song “Amazing”. The lyrics written by Steven Tyler and Richie Supa included an instance of the saying:
That one last shot's permanent vacation
And how high can you fly with broken wings?
Life's a journey, not a destination
And I just can't tell just what tomorrow brings
I hope some of this rings true or brings joy to your heart during these days of angst.
— Alf
Tonight January 1 2021 I listened to the story of
A free camera strap for any photographer to do a publisher picture story of this wonderful story.