The spring equinox of March 20, 2015 came and
faded with the wind. This day marking the new season of growth and renewal has
been in effect for near two weeks now, and yet, I never felt it. At least not
here in Maui, where the seasons rarely deviate too far from warm to
hotter summer all year round. Twelve hour days are in abundance here. Rising
with the sun and falling asleep near 9:00 each day. And we call ourselves
young…
But here, on the 31st of March, the sun setting
low before April swings open a new door, I do indeed feel change. “A new leaf”
I shall say. Spring and transformation is in the air. These hours of the 31st
of March will culminate a new direction in my life—one that will take me far
and wide, just as long as I keep my arms spread open for the world. Today I
opened the envelope for the legal freedom of my young divorce.
I am no longer married.
I am once again single.
I am once again alive—living out my 20s for new experiences, people
and places to behold.
To say that I felt sadness when I opened the postmarked
document would most certainly be a lie. My only thought was relief and
opportunity, with only the world ahead of me. I have cried the tears of
confusion and sorrow and unmistakable pain. I came here to Maui for a rejuvenation
and rewriting process. Although that process is far from over, I will not let
the demons of melancholy and depression take hold of me. I came to Maui to be
Laura again.
To live. To breathe. To experience.
And so I am. The next chapter of my book begins early
tomorrow morning as I ascend to an elevation of 10,023 feet to the summit of
Haleakala National Park and then dive near 2,500 feet into its crater.
Haleakala is known as the “House of the Sun” due to the Hawaiian legend
where Maui, a demigod, captured the sun within the crater, releasing it only
when the sun promised to travel more slowly across the sky.
In part, we are like the sun. Moving day through day
consistently on the move. Subconsciously willing our lives to end sooner.
Filling it more and more each day.
New tasks. New fillers. New objects of fascination.
We need to be caught. To be wrestled into the earth. Forced
to ruminate within our beings.
So that we can be re-enraptured with the beautiful life laid
out before us. The troubles of my life from this past year will be left here in
the night as this sun sets, and I will take the necessary step forward tomorrow
as the sun rises and I descend into the bowl of time worn erosion. My trip
around the moon landscape of Haleakala will push me forward into Easter weekend
and the reminder of the one death that gave me second chances again and again
in this life. A death that brings complete renewal to those who believe in Him.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only
son, and that whosoever believes in Him shall be saved.” John 3:16
Loved. Gave. Only. Whosoever. Believes. Saved.
One for the greater life of many. Jesus Christ, a God who
could have chosen a life in the cosmos forever separated from His creation,
took the form of a human here on earth in order to walk the dirt He created, to
speak to those He created and to love the many things of this world He created.
Loved and betrayed by those He came to save, Christ gave up his breath in order
that ours could be saved for eternity. For something beyond this world. A time for second chances indeed...
The first week of April will usher me around the next corner
of my life. A 90 degree turn filled with anticipation and wonder for what 2015
will continue to bring me. I hope the waves of Maui overtake me and refresh my
spirit into tomorrow’s sun.
