Where am I going?! And Why?

I will admit that I, like many "Northerners", hardly know the South, even though my aunt and family lived in Durham, North Carolina and I had student rabbinic pulpits in Owensboro, Kentucky and New Iberia, Louisiana. For many a Northerner, Birmingham, England seems more hospitable than Birmingham, Alabama.  (Birmingham, Michigan is another matter entirely.)  The foods, the music, the understanding of a shared history all differ.  The language.  The relations between blacks and whites.  The relations with Jews.  The South can seem scary.

To be honest, I am more concerned about meeting snarling dogs than dangerous people on my bike.  Surely, dislike and distrust exist.  I heard them in the concerns expressed to me in recent days.  They too demonstrate distrust and fear.  But I do believe that people are genuinely good, and, more importantly, nice.  I expect to be offered more kindnesses (water, a meal, or a place to sleep) than cruelties.  Of course, people sometimes live up to their stereotypes, but that is the price for extending oneself into the world at anytime and in any place.  The experience, the journey, the ride is everything.  Learning new truths, touching other souls, experiencing God's presence is all we may hope for each and every day.

[Life is short.  100 years more or (usually) less.  The afterlife is just that: after life.  What it is, or if it is, are meaningless questions.   How to achieve it, if it exists, is easy.  Die.  How to achieve it, if it includes Judgment is also easy.  Act well.  If in the end a particular faith or set of beliefs is required for entry, I'd be surprised, disappointed and maybe just not interested. The experience, the journey, the ride is everything.  Learning new truths, touching other souls, experiencing God's presence is all we may hope for each and every day.]

What I am looking for in the next few months and what has been given me as a great gift is this everyday opportunity muscled up.  I can not help meeting the new everyday.