Birth is a beginning
And death a destination
But life is a journey
A going – a growing
From stage to stage.

From Childhood to maturity
And youth to age.
From innocence to awareness
And ignorance to knowing;
From foolishness to discretion
And then, perhaps to wisdom.

From weakness to strength
Or strength to weakness –
And, often back again.

From health to sickness
And back we pray, to health again.

From offense to forgiveness,
From loneliness to love,
From joy to gratitude,
From pain to compassion,
And grief to understanding –
From fear to faith.

From defeat to defeat to defeat –
Until, looking backward or ahead,
We see victory lies
Not at some high place along the way,
But in having made the journey, stage
By Stage, a sacred pilgrimage.

Birth is a beginning
And death a destination
But life is a journey
A sacred pilgrimage
Made stage by stage
To life everlasting.

-Alvin Fine