Transitions

Transitions always make me uncomfortable. A bridge is an image widely used to represent a period of transition. The Rainbow Bridge poem, is given to bereaved pet owners. What is it that makes the image so symbolic? I was walking on a foot bridge over the Housatonic the other day. On either side of me was river, the bridge swayed just the slightest amount with each step. There was nothing to keep me from falling except for a cable railing that was strong, but not solid. When I was trying to figure out why I have such a hard time with change later that night I kept thinking about the railing. Maybe THAT is God, or Grace. It is there to guide me across the expanse or change, but if I choose to slip between the slots I will fall. So it is part me, part God that keeps me walking forward. The time it took to cross the bridge was not long, 30 seconds or so, and I could have stopped in the center and thought of ways that I was scared, (the river is too far down, I am scared of heights). But I didn't. It was automatic to continue the cross to the waiting trail head on the other side and my climb up to Laura's Tower. Maybe when I am struggling with a shift in schedule I can remember that bridge, take one step at a time, feel the presence around me that keeps me moving forward and know that if I just keep walking, I will make it to the other side.