Usually when we say that somebody is “going round in circles” we mean that they keep coming back to the same place or problem where they started, that they’re not making progress or achieving anything.
Actually, in terms of motion, we’re all going round in circles all the time:
– Everyone on the surface of the rotating earth is constantly going around about 1,000 miles per hour, since the circumference of the earth is somewhat over 24,000 miles.
– The whole earth and everyone on it is spinning around the sun at a rate of about 67,000 miles per hour.
– The entire solar system is moving around the galaxy center at a speed well over 500,000 miles per hour.
We’re part of a very fast crowd!
In terms of the course of our lives, we tend also to be going round in circles much of the time, often living aimlessly with little or no sense of destination or destiny.
The older we are, the more conscious we become of the speed of each of our lives—and the imminence of their end, of death.
There’s a lovely—and striking—question in The Liturgy of the Hours (Week II, Monday, Morning Prayer, Antiphon 1): “When will I come to the end of my pilgrimage and enter the presence of God?”
It’s an interesting and challenging way of describing the course of one’s life—as a pilgrimage!
A pilgrimage usually means a demanding journey, usually a long trip, to a special place, often a foreign and/or sacred place—and, of course, the journey has a purpose.
We undertake a pilgrimage in spite of its hardships, difficulties, and dangers because of our keen desire to attain its goal, to reach our destination.
As wayfarers, travelers, pilgrims, we don’t fear the end of our journey, we don’t lament that the trip will be over—we yearn to reach it, to attain our goal.
Going round in circles isn’t necessarily wasteful. If we’re going up a spiral staircase, though we’re going round in circles we’re also making progress, getting higher every time around.
Going round in circles is a fundamental aspect of our lives. But, without a purpose, goal, or destination, without progress, achievement, or attainment, our lives can be empty and terrifyingly meaningless.
For some people, a question like, “When will I come to the end of my pilgrimage and enter the presence of God?,” is nothing more than senseless “religious talk.”
In reality, it’s a profound way of describing our lives. We may not fully realize its implications, but it does give some purpose, power, and fulfillment to us, we ever-circling, fast-moving human creatures.
Life isn’t a merry-go-round. We don’t just enjoy the ride until it’s over. In fact, the ride isn’t necessarily always enjoyable.
Life isn’t a boomerang journey. We’re not just thrown around, traveling long and far, and end up spent and exhausted pretty much not far from where we started.
Life isn’t a train ride that never ends; we’re not wanderers without a station where we get off; we have a place to go to and a hope for tomorrow.
If life’s a pilgrimage with its mysterious destination, “the presence of God,” then why we aren’t we preparing for the journey?
Why are we encumbered by useless things, why aren’t we traveling light, why aren’t we on our guard against detours and blockages?
It’s okay to be going round in circles so long as we’re spiraling, so long as, no matter how convoluted the route of our lives, we’re progressing towards our final destination.
(Available in Spanish translation)
9 August 2020