Only a Sojourner

For I am only a sojourner with you,
a nomad as all my ancestors were. (Psa. 39:14)

Something in a name gives it permanence. The act of naming (or writing) engraves a thing, representing where that person is at a given moment in time. The permanence of the name is balanced by the realization that what is typed or labeled represents only a single moment in which certain things seemed true.

When I'm asked to name a series of reflections (in this case, blogs), it seems rather flippant to attach a name to something based on where I am today. It feels like attaching a permanent label on a place in life that may be very fleeting.

At this moment, in this time, I've chosen to call these reflections, "Only a Sojourner." The heading serves as an indication of the meandering nature of my personal journey. A sojourner travels everywhere, wanders all over the map, sometimes with the realization of where he/she is, and sometimes completely and utterly lost.

In my own wanderings, though, I've learned that lost is a place, too . . . a place from which the next journey of exploration begins. So I imagine that these reflections will be all over the map, that some will appear quite "lost."

At least with the idea of sojourning in the title, I'll give myself permission to do that wandering. I won't be tied down to a particular way of thinking or writing or being. I'll explore. I'll journey. And as a heading for what may (or may not) be a fairly regular series of reflections, "Only a Sojourner" is probably the best I can do today. That heading fits the place I find myself at this moment and matches what I intend for these reflections over time.