Pictures of Life

Last Sunday I mused on ‘Lord of the Dance’: Life’s a journey, a race, a voyage, a battle. Why not a dance?’

Yesterday a friend mused on life as a train journey…

Different pictures of life? Here’s 6:

Journeys on foot

We are pilgrims on a journey: adapting to different terrain, climbing hills, encountering dark valleys, crossing rivers…

We are running a race: needing stamina for the marathon, carrying what we need – too much baggage weighs us down.

Transport

My friend’s picture – a train ride with stations, buffers and branch lines: scenery to observe, rails to keep on, tunnels ending in light.

We are in a boat: voyages of discovery, seas to cross, storms to encounter, shipwreck to avoid.

…or aeroplanes, cars, bicycles…

Dance/Music

We are dancers: from robust Morris dancing to graceful ballet: choreography to follow, rhythms to feel, music to listen to.

We are instrumentalists in an orchestra, part of a band, singers in a choir: music and dance both speak of feelings and emotions, creativity, playing a part.

Film/Play

We are actors in a drama: tragedy, comedy, mystery, adventure, horror… or the daily happenings in our soap opera.

Sometimes we follow the script, sometimes we invent our own. There is always an audience.

Battle/sport

We are soldiers in a battle, competitors in sport: the battlefield, trench warfare, boxing, football, fishing…

It may be an individual contest: we may have allies or supportive team members: the opposition is evident. Are we winning or just avoiding defeat…?

Creatures/plants

We are animals in ‘The Lion King’, ‘Animal Farm’ or even ‘The Gruffalo’. We are caterpillars turning into butterflies, trees planted by the river, a beautiful but thorny rose…..

Musing…

So… when Jesus says ‘I am the Way, and the Truth and the Life’ can he be seen as the ‘Way, Truth and Life’ in each of these pictures?