We've Reached the End

Since we have arrived at our surprising destination and are finished with the traveling part of this project, this will be my last entry in this blog. I have enjoyed writing it and hearing from people that I don't even know who have commented and provided advice as we have made this journey. Now we put together what we have learned in various ways.
Keeping this blog has helped me think through some things and I have found the process to be quite productive in that I sometimes was able to discover what I thought about something in the process of writing a blog entry. And I find my own journey continuing here in this most unlikely place. So I will continue to blog about my thoughts and observations at
www.shariburke.blogspot.com

Because I have been interested for quite some time now about the role faith plays in individual lives, culture, and society, and this trip has only intensified that, I am also starting a new blog devoted to that topic at
www.faithculturesociety.blogspot.com

This trip has made me even more aware of how large a role faith plays in the world and how inadequately this is recognized and addressed. That's not to say it is ignored. There's much attention paid to various aspects of faith, but much of this is superficial and beside the point. Thus, it's not very useful. I humbly hope to provide some fresh insight and new ways of considering faith in our culture and lives.

For those of you who followed along on our trek across the northern US, thanks for being there with us. It quickly became apparent that it was not going to be what we thought it would be when we started out and I was glad I decided to expect nothing but the unexpected. Rolling with things the way they were and not trying to make it all into something else was a valuable strategy and I am glad I planned for that going in. Otherwise I could have found myself miserable and frustrated. As it is, I learned so much and found myself in a large way in the process. So it's all turned out well. I hope to hear from you via email or through one of my other blogs. Take care and be sure to listen wherever you happen to find yourself—whether it's to someone else or to yourself. Especially to yourself.