New York

New York, more than any other city, village, time, place, or event, has to be “walked” in order to be experienced.  I am not talking about putting one foot in front of another, getting from point A to B.  I am referring to the get in, see, taste, listen, interest, and most of all record the full range of memories open to one willing to step beyond the box.  The City has its characters and weird places.  I suspect you can find anything your heart desires – good and bad, expensive and extremely cheap, memorable and forgetful.  For those who are not sure there is a lot of evil buried here.  I agree yet for different reasons than you might expect.  New York is a big, large, and overflowing community.  Communities are extended families at best and close families at worst.  Every emotion is present.  Each fear has a home.  Forces of all kinds are at work.
 
In my visits and restings in the City I find myself growing more reflective, not less.  It’s as if the compass in my soul has found its true reckoning; outwards and upwards towards Divinity.  Getting one’s bearing doesn’t require a visit to New York but for me it worked.  The course correction has taken; the intent and focus restored.
 
A lessoned learned comes from all the advice I received along the way.  It is as if “They'll say [said], ‘Come, let's climb God's Mountain, go to the House of the God of Jacob.  He'll show us the way he works so we can live the way we're made.’  Zion's the source of the revelation.  God's Message comes from Jerusalem.” (Isaiah 2.3)  Maybe they were right but I, “I” had to make the decisions.
 
You and I are responsible for the directions and destination of our lives.  We cannot pass the buck.  We must not give up control.  What happens, the when, where, and why, is a gift we posses.  It must be used.  With time choices are realized, action or none.  Hope is realized or dashed, experienced or missed.