“Remain upright,” my friend Philip said at the end of our Saturday morning phone call.
“Ha, ha,” I wanted to say, but he was referring to the two falls I had in the previous week—one when I stepped on a patch of black ice while walking the dog and the other when the dog bolted while still attached by leash to my left arm. Down I went both times, although the ice fall was the more painful of the two falls.
But I am someone who rarely falls, so these two are reminders to pay attention when I am out walking, and perhaps to accept that my winter dog-walking days might be behind me.
Later that same Saturday, a friend called and told me her husband had fallen on the snow and hurt his knee. I asked her to pass along Philip’s advice to her husband: “Remain upright.”
Over the next week, I heard about two other people who fell on the ice and ended up with broken femurs. Ouch.
We are having a particularly wintery winter this year, with snow, ice and gusting winds (think snow drifts). There is ice everywhere, sometimes buried beneath a fresh dusting of snow, so it is bound to happen that people are falling.
I have also been pondering what this advice means for my spiritual life. “Remain upright,” I keep telling myself.
I think of the Spirit’s movement in my life, moving like the wind and shaking things up. I think of keeping my focus on Jesus and His message of love, acceptance and forgiveness. I think of remaining firm in my faith.
In the spiritual journey, we can encounter icy patches that can bring us down. Falling is part of the journey, part of life. We all fall. Getting back up and stepping back onto the path is the challenge.
In my twelve-step fellowship, we are reminded at each meeting that we are not alone. “Look around you,” our meeting begins, “and you will see others who know how you feel.”
It is true that we all fall. Having the courage to get up again, to ask for help from those around us, and to get back on the path is how we can remain upright.
Madeline Bialecki 
