by Barbara Fisher

Created on: March 04, 2007   Last Updated: May 11, 2007

Going the Distance To Reach God

"I will search the world, I will face its harms, till I find my hero's welcome, waiting in his arms."
One day last week, I was driving home from the hospital where I had been for a long session of physical therapy. Not only was I tired from all the exercises, but my head was aching from a sleepless night, and my stomach was churning in anticipation of a shot I had to get that afternoon. The shot, Avonex, was being used to treat my ms. While it is known to slow the progress of the disease, it can also cause fever, vomiting and other flue like symptoms. I had experienced all these things previously with every injection, and I dreaded the shot. But I also knew my ms was starting to cause me some serious complications, and I felt the shot was my only chance to fight back against this crippling illness.

I felt very depressed, which is another side effect of the medication. Simultaneously, my despair was reinforced by earlier news that my Aunt had died that morning. This was topped off with a call from the nursing home where my parents are saying the doctor suspected that my mom, who already has Alzheimer's, also has cancer.
As I drove toward home, I tried to comfort myself by making a mental list of all the things I had to be grateful for in life. But that day, self pity had
taken over, and myself wouldn't listen. Still deep in my thoughts, I reached over to turn the radio off, when the gentle sound of Michael Bolton's voice
caught my attention.
"And I won't look back, and I ll stay on track, and I won't accept defeat, It's an uphill slope, but I won't lose hope, till I go the distance and my journey is complete . . . "
The song was beautiful, and the words went straight to my heart. Somehow I knew there was a message in those lyrics for me. Instead of going directly home, I went to a music shop, and purchased the sheet music and a copy of the tape.
That afternoon, as I played the tape, the words captivated my soul. My mind suddenly started meditating on their very deep and beautiful meaning. I suddenly realized that every thing in my life was only a step . . . a very small step . . . leading to that place I have been dreaming of reaching.
"Down an unknown road, to embrace my fate, though that road may wander, it will lead me in, Oh, a thousand years will be worth the wait, It might take a life time but somehow I 'll see it through."
So it is . . . I realized that I had been looking at my life as a total picture instead of taking

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