My dear friends/acquaintances/anonymous readers, my time here on the World Race has come to an end. It has been an amazing journey with ups and downs, overwhelming joys and great heartbreak, and I have finally returned home. I am irrevocably different, but nevertheless the same guy. In the words of a wonderful band named Waterdeep,
I’m amazed by life
And it’s amazed by me
We’re a strange old pair- me and eternity
It don’t make good sense
It ain’t easy to see
But I’m amazed by life
And it’s amazed by me
It’s a long hard road
With a good, good end
And if I keep on walking on past the crooked bend
I will meet my Maker
I will meet my Friend
It’s a long hard road
With a good, good end
So to end my blog, I would like to leave you with a benediction. It is beautifully crafted and one I wish I had written myself. It is by Keith Anderson, the President of Mars Hill Graduate School, my [hopefully] future seminary – if the good Lord’s willing and the creek don’t rise.
May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that you will live deep in your heart. May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people and the earth so that you will work for justice, equity, and peace. May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer so you will reach out your hand to comfort them and change their pain into joy. May God bless you with the foolishness to think you can make a difference in the world, so you will do the things which others say cannot be done. In the name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.
