The End of All Things

This life therefore
is not righteousness but growth in righteousness;
not health but healing,
not being but becoming,
not rest but exercise.
We are not what we shall be but we are growing toward it;
the process is not yet finished but it is going on;
this is not the end but it is the road.
All does not yet gleam in glory but all is being purified.
--Martin Luther

The above is probably one of my favorite quotes ever, and one that has come to mean a lot to me over the past few years. It's been a kind of touchstone for me, through all the ups and downs of my life. When I feel like I've had enough and I just want to stop, it reminds me that life is always in motion, and the unbearable burden of today will be like a gentle breeze tomorrow, or the next day, or years later. But the burden will pass. I will heal, and I will grow.

Life is always in motion.

Most of you (faithful readers and occasional passersby alike) know by now the past couple weeks have been a lightning storm of change for me. An opportunity to nearly literally restart my life has come up, and for once, finally, I am taking that chance.

I've spent the past eight years in Maryland, living through the best and worst times of my life, surrounded by some of the finest people I have ever met. I could easily have spent the next twenty-thirty-fifty years here, working at this or at that, spending more time with those wonderful people- my family of friends- watching lives play out, watching the world go by, watching myself stand still.

Or I could take a chance.

Life is always in motion.

So I'm leaving behind Maryland (but not my friends- you are always with me), leaving behind this place of so many memories, and moving to Pittsburgh. My hometown.

I'm going back to my hometown, a stranger in a familiar land. This man I've become will walk amongst twenty-five years of history of the boy I was. It will be so easy to drift back into that past- life was so much easier then, so little to think about, so much more comfortable to bury myself into those old habits. So simple to let the world wash over me and carry me away.

Or I could chart my own course.

Life is always in motion.

"...not being but becoming..."

---

So, what does this have to do with Karloff's Ghost? Well, it means an ending, of sorts. The next few weeks are going to be insane with prepping to move (not to mention finding a place to live, a rental truck, time to pack, etc.) and as a result, this will be the final post for about a month. I hope to resume posting the week of June 16 (fate willing). Expect things to look a bit different around here, as well; I've got some ideas.

See you soon.

- Steve

Music: "Live This Life" - Big & Rich and "Solisbury Hill" - Peter Gabriel