WHICH PATH IS THE RIGHT PATH FOR YOU?
[I had a dream the other night, and this is what I wrote in my journal when I woke up in the morning]:
I see the trunk of an old oak tree. It sits near a riverbank, and it is covered with moss. I hear people singing in the background, and I follow the sound to a small one-room church. There are colored people singing inside, and they are dressed in their Sunday best with colorful hats and matching gloves. There is a preacher up front who is directing the entire congregation to sing. I am peeking through one of the windows, and I am amazed at what I am seeing because this is a slave plantation, and I didn’t know there were any churches for slaves. I am also surprised because they seem happy and hopeful despite their circumstances. There is love amongst the people, and they give each other strength to keep going. They have all been there a long time and were separated from their families so many years ago that many don’t remember when they were born or even what names they were given at birth. When every day is the same and there is no sign of change, something in you dies and wants to just give up. You try to find anything good to cling to that lifts you up out of the misery and the pain. You look for lightness or kindness, something to give you hope that tomorrow will be a better day. You look around and see so much cruelty in the world where no one thinks of anyone but themselves. There is just greed and power, greed and power, greed and power.
But even the ones with all the money don’t seem that happy. They are also fighting the system in their own way. They have different problems, but still they don’t sleep at night either. They toss and turn with worry and fear of their own kind, and they also don’t like the world they are living in. There is so much discontent everywhere that you can taste it in the air, you can smell it everywhere. No one knows what their next step is, no one sees the path they need to take. They are all running but not getting anywhere as if they are standing in place.
There are many roads ahead, all leading in different directions … but which is the best one? Which one will lead to the utopia that we are all striving for with that pot of gold and that beautiful rainbow? Which path leads to heaven? Which one will take you out of the darkness and into the light? Which path will save you?
More importantly, which path is the right path for YOU? It’s not the same path that anyone else would want to take if it’s truly the right one for you. We each have one designed just for us. But how much time do we have left to find it? The clock is ticking, and there is someone looking over your shoulder and whispering in your ear that it’s time to choose. You can’t keep running in place and getting nowhere. Others are getting ahead of you. They have already chosen their paths, and you can see them up ahead going down their own roads. Some look back and wave at you, while others beckon you to join them. Some never look back and just keep going. Some look so happy and so confident they have found the perfect path that it looks as if they are running and getting further and further away and only seconds have gone by.
But some are moving more slowly and yet walk with an arrogance or cockiness that tells everyone else they know exactly what they are doing. Others are lugging lots of bags with them, and their progress is slowed down by all the belongings they refuse to leave behind. They are the type that take two steps forward and then one step back as they return to get something else from their past. Then there are the ones who are walking backwards always facing the direction they have just come from. They don’t want to see what is up ahead, but they know they still have to make the journey regardless. Some days they walk backwards more quickly and confidently, while other days they are quite slow and turn around often just to make sure they aren’t going to run into something. But still they keep walking backwards even when what is up ahead looks safe to them.
Copyright © 2013 (Michelle Parsons, Getting Back on Your Path). All Rights Reserved.
