Another Bench

I was recently at a remarkable retreat center where the grounds were as inspirational as the facility itself. During the first of my many walks on the trail through the woods, I stopped at a bench with a particularly serene view. There was a small creek with enough water and rocks to make the sound one craves when sitting and thinking, and I quickly felt I had found thespot. I planned to spend most of my time sitting on this bench.

After awhile, though, I stood to continue walking on the trail and was surprised to find an even better bench around the bend. Thisis the spot, I thought to myself. The trail then led up a steep hill, which I did not particularly want to climb, but at the top was an even more amazing bench surrounded by massive boulders, a cross and altar. Sitting on this third bench, I reflected on the progression of benches, and, maybe because I was on a retreat and had to think about something, couldn’t help but see a lesson in my experience.

So often, I reach a place and think I’ve arrived. This is the spot, I think, and am content to remain there forever. Like the time I moved to a new town and never wanted to leave, I got a job that was ideal for me, or a loved one and I have a difficult “steep” conversation that brings us to a better place.  So often, I fool myself into thinking I have arrived, that things can never get any better than this. 

Then, the situation changes and I am forced to move on. Such changes are difficult and I often think I’ll never find a place like that again, but then I learn what the benches were teaching me the other day: there’s always another bench waiting. The next town has friends I’d never have met, the new job brings out something in me I didn’t know existed, or the next chapter in a relationship brings an intimacy we’ve never known. The next “bench,” if you will, brings gifts of its own, but I never know about them until I am willing to move further down the way. 

I think it’s also of life itself. I’ve been given such a wonderful life, one I should savor and give thanks for daily. I sometimes think life can get no better, that I want to sit right here forever, but I would miss so much by doing so. On a deeper level, I so often get fooled into thinking this life is as good as it gets. When I do, I cling to this world with all my might.

But I believe there’s another bench waiting for me. I believe there’s another life around the bend, out of sight, that will put this one to shame. Funny that it took a walk in the woods to remind me.