period

I had a discussion with a friend this morning about the end of things and good-byes. (It must be my theme song stuck on repeat). We came to the conclusion that it isn't really about the good-bye or even that things are changing. It's the fact that it's a period.

It is a definite end to something - a thought, a rhythm, an era. Once you put the period after a word, it becomes a last word and you must start a new sentence ... and sometimes a new page. She was saying that periods are like when your kids leave for college. There's no turning back. They are no longer kids cuddling in your arms. Yes, they can return home, but it's never the same. It's the end of something.

The good thing though is that periods aren't the end of the story. It's easy to begin a new thought or a new chapter. Just put pen to paper and make a stroke.

Why are we so against periods? Is it that fear of starting something new and we don't know where it will lead? Is it the angst of closing out something old and familiar unable to ever return to that moment?

I don't think I mind periods. I would rather not live on the period - that place in flux after the end and before the beginning. It's that transition point that something inside me yearns to continue on. I much prefer the hope of the next thought, the next chapter. I get depressed and confined when I'm in the midst of a run-on sentence as well. I desire change and newness of place, of perspective, of being. Maybe that's why I love God's promise that we are being made new everyday. It's not a done deal and then live stagnate for the ages. He is forever perfecting His beauty within us. And the fact that there is purpose and direction in change thrills me.

It gives me confidence to make the next stroke and see where I end up.