Ascending the Staircase of Life

     William Skupski stands in the darkness at the bottom of the Stairs of Life seeking more perfect direction in his climb to the light that will guide his journey and help others in completing their journeys.

      Often stuck in the back of his mind clawing to get out–the principle he thought should guide all actions in life–but for which William  never had found the answer most satisfactory to him,“What Would Jesus Do?” 

      On the deepest emotional level, one of William’s biggest challenges, the essential tremor that had plagued him throughout his pre-teen years into his rapidly-advancing adulthood, had held him back, in many respects, from fulfilling his complete potential. Maybe the answer lay in “WWJD.” 

     Perhaps God’s will–or whatever force truly guides the universe– had guided him in the various directions he had taken, as he calmly worked to make the most of every twist and turn of his existence. 

      The method William chose to cope with this often second place existence had led him down a number of detours. However, he probably would not have advanced to the point he had without the limitations imposed by the tremor that plagued him most of his life and his determination to  overcome them.  

     His fight to smash through the roadblocks had, afterall, led William into an extremely productive career in community journalism that brought him perhaps a great deal more satisfaction, “fame” and adventure than he would have attained had his situation not forced him to take the detours. Without the detour posed by his tremor he probably also would not have discovered the intense satisfaction of retiring into the wonderful post-retirement fiction writing avocation that led him to discover his muse amidst the natural beauty of Delmarva’s many beaches and other attractions. Although it had not produced the monetary rewards he had sought, at least up to this point, possible doors that could still open remained part of his positive challenge for the future.

     The detours also had led him into social leadership positions in his community and in the quasi-military organization that brought him more satisfaction than he probably ever would have enjoyed had the fates brought him into the traditional military service route forced upon many in his generation.  They also probably saved his life from the debacle of Vietnam that destroyed many of his generation.

      Also, William never had truly explored his religious convictions in any depth, choosing to accept the tenets of his faith without question, probably a product of his 13 years of Catholic education.  As he progressed more fully on the Stairs of Life in his retirement years he began to look more deeply into the possible true meaning of that faith..

      Of course, his faith had always served him as a source of comfort and guided his decency and respect for his brotherhood and sisterhood with his fellow members of the human race.   

      Until the years leading up to it and during his retirement William pretty much had accepted that which his church preached at him as the entire fulfillment of his relationship to his religion.  He had never realized that, outside of that preached to him in his religious organization, the true fulfillment of his faith lay in practicing faith in its purest form. He came to believe that  being tied to man-made rules might lead only to worshipping window dressing rather than discovering the true meaning of faith.

      As he advanced into the final years of his existence he began to appreciate more fully the true meaning of the ties that bind together the brotherhood–and sisterhood–of those who belong to the human family.     

     Charity, for William, began to take on a more personal meaning, aimed at bettering his own life by bettering the lives of others through performing good works. He came more and more to believe charity should come more from one’s internal sense of decency and obligation rather than from monetary parameters dictated by the budgetary needs aimed at maintaining his religious organization.

     Bettering the entire lifetimes of the rest of mankind began to take on a far more important meaning than the focus of his religious organization solely on what it considered the beginning of existence.

     He also saw the need for a much broader definition of understanding and inclusion–the need for a world of greater kindness in which we study more carefully the motivations behind the viewpoints of others and what causes them to react to the world the way they do.

     William also began to explore more the hypocrisy of supposedly caring so much for our entire existence but continuing to support policies which shorten that existence, especially for those which the supported society chooses to marginalize.

     The true betterment of society, he also began to realize, probably should come more from a free and open discussion of issues and beliefs than from social media shouting and narrow minded spouting of viewpoints and violent reactions to the viewpoints of others. Maybe we should be understanding far more and shouting far less.

     He came to agree more and more that positive interaction in most instances accomplishes far more than the construction of cages aimed at locking away viewpoints not mirroring exactly our own.

      In exploring the various facets of this hypocrisy, however, William also began to realize that his own faith had become too wrapped up in humankind-created “deeper meaning.” On the other hand, he had failed to realize the many positive aspects of his religious organization. Indeed, for most of his life, this organization had brought a great deal of wonderful meaning to William and those around him.

       Perhaps, for the first time in his existence, William had begun to delve deeper with his own questioning without throwing out those aspects of his religion that had helped him reach this pinacle of his existence.

      Additionally,  the overcoming of detours caused by some of William’s own physical and mental limitations enabled him to shine a spotlight on detours he had taken in his previous relationship to religion and faith.

      Perhaps the journey of this one man can provide a lesson and food for thought that can bring a benefit to all of humankind.

     Then again, religion and spirtuality often reach for the ideal. Perhaps humankind will never reach the ideal for which it has claimed to be striving for too long.