I came across this image of a sculpture called “Walking Madonna,” by Elizabeth Frink, in the cathedral close at Salisbury. Esther de Waal in her book To Pause at the Threshold, refers to this statue, and I found this photo of it on Flickr (taken by Neosnaps). Click on the picture if you’d like to see it bigger.
De Waal says this, “Here is this young woman who strides out boldly into the future, her one hand strong and determined, while the other is vulnerable…she is ready to cross the threshold and engage whatever lies before her.”
This is a great image of the reality that so much of life is just taking the next step. This is true whether we are moving toward a goal or dealing with the pain that life can bring our way. My mother always said, “Just do the next thing.” We always have parts of ourselves that are strong and others that are vulnerable. We can still keep moving forward, taking the next step.