Article in Stretton Focus, October 2015
Having reached the age of 78, after 50 years as an ordained minister in the United Reformed Church, I’m prepared to be called an ‘old man’ – if that admits me into the category of being an explorer. Even when I spent 20 years as a missionary in Papua New Guinea, I was tempted to put ‘explorer’ on the passport as my profession: but now I’m fully qualified – so what will I explore?
I will explore my past and my future (but only from within the present moment, for that’s all we have). Most of my life is past, so there will be plenty of material. Some of it will be hard going. There will be rocks that I’ve stumbled over before, but never moved: waiting to trip me up again. There will be mistakes that I’ve made, but never really learned from. There will be regrets that still leave a bitter taste.
I must explore all these areas of my past life, and find ways of dealing with them, so that I can face the future with a smile on my face, and a spring in my step. But where is the future?
Tomorrow is uncharted territory. I think the best way to travel into it is on the vehicle called HOPE. The exploration will need a sensitive awareness, and an active imagination. I would like to see the realisation of all that is best in human nature, and the creation of a world where there is peace and prosperity for all.
From where I am today, the unknown tomorrow looks like spiritual territory, where belief in God (whatever you mean by that word) could be a guiding light.
At all events, TS Eliot, whose words from his Four Quartets are the title of my piece, says that ‘tomorrow’ is really today, with just a different name: that all things exist in the NOW of God’s present moment, if only we could see it!
So it’s no surprise that in Little Gidding (from Four Quartets) he tells us that ‘exploration will never cease; and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started, and know the place for the first time.’
I find that thought very exciting and challenging; and I am already hoisting my sails to catch the wind of the Spirit.
Donald Horsfield