I stared at the cup. The café name triggered memories and voices long forgotten. My head conversation took me back to when I was eight years old and riding in the car with my mom to San Francisco. On the way was a diner. The signage, think old-school 1960s diners and three-dimensional signs that lit up at night, was a cow jumping over the moon. The Milk Farm restaurant was an oasis that drew in truckers, families, and everyone in between. It also was a foundation for endless conversations. How much do I love you? Are we there yet? Where does the cow land? It is a long way for anything, much less a cow, to jump.
As I remember the sign, the fun banter, and the imaginative stories we told each other, I find myself wrestling with the idea that it is easy to think something is impossible. They could never happen! The idea cannot be real, even if some believe otherwise.
After many miles and the impossible being embraced and lived, I have come to appreciate the courage that comes from taking one step after another toward an impossible dream. I believe impossible things come true, often far earlier than one anticipates.
Adversaries can forgive and become friends. I have come to appreciate individuals and views that were, in times past, adversaries. I understand that I could have, with their experiences, held the same views. With awareness, I see missed opportunities to have changed our conversation and relationship during the heat of the battle. Harmony is a strength many, including this author, have often not valued.
Darkness can give way to light. It can be a struggle to forgive oneself. With lingering pain and loss, forgiving others can seem impossible. The distance seems beyond anyone’s ability to bridge. Divinity offers you and I the experience of forgiveness, the promise that “This is my commitment to my people: removal of their sins.” (Romans 11.27). The darkness and the karma that comes with it can be removed, and replaced by light, kindness, care, and compassion.
