It’s quite common to hear life described as a journey. The image which springs to mind may be heavily influenced by Shakespeare’s Seven Ages of Man – a poignant but depressing description of decline:
“.....one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
Then, the whining schoolboy....”
The last stage is a shrunken old man with “his big manly voice turned again into a childish treble”.
Or maybe we are more influenced by John Newton’s words about the journey of his life in Amazing Grace :
“Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far
and Grace will lead me home.”
This notion of life as a dangerous journey, full of traps and perils, ending thankfully in the home that Jesus has prepared for us is full of truth, but nothing like the whole story.
There is another aspect, the journey of the soul, which is not spoken of much. As Christians, we know that the physical body has built-in decline as time proceeds, but there is another progression happening within each of us, that is, the journey of the soul. It may be more accurately called the journey of the spirit and is full of potential growth, through fascinating stages, and certainly not automatically in decline as we hit middle age! As our external appearance develops wrinkles, our spiritual being, in union with Jesus, should be gaining strength and wisdom, growing ever closer to God. Our spirit should be stronger, more mature, resilient and resourceful as the years we have been following Jesus increase. The journey is not ending in weakness; in spite of the dangers and snares, it is moving from glory to glory.
Veronica