Pathways

We have all taken a different path to get to right where we are today. For some, it has been a long and windy road of ups and downs, mountains and valleys. For others it has been a quick hop, skip and jump, and before you know it you have arrived. Some have been on this path for many years while others are just getting started. So how did we all end up right here, right now?

Most of us, when we started this journey, had grander visions and ideas of where we would be five years, 10 years or 20 years down the road. Others just blindly took a step into the unknown. But I was reminded of something today. We all followed the yellow brick road. Some looking for a heart (love), some looking for a brain (wisdom and education), some want courage (challenges, facing the hard stuff), and, yes, some were just looking for home (security and belonging).

Just like in the movie I am referencing, “The Wizard of Oz,” our paths are filled with crazy things that might happen. We meet strange things that we try and understand and have problems of their own. We come across danger, misdirection, people who help and need each other. We also come across those who have desires extremely different from our own and sometimes get us off course for a time. But when we do meet others who are heading in the same direction, maybe seeking different outcomes but going together, we find a kinship of journey. We can lean on others in our time of need.

Some will depart from the path and the group before reaching the final destination, but they have a different path to follow. Right or wrong, they must go where the call leads them. Yellow brick or brown brick or dirt or asphalt, the paths may be different but the seeking something is the same. They will surely find a new group of those seeking the destination and grow together. No one’s path is the same and we cannot predict what will happen tomorrow.

We cannot control who we run into on our own travels or what we may run into around the next corner, but we do know this: If we stick together during the time we have together, it makes the journey a little less daunting and scary.

So why am I writing this today and how did we all get right here? Well, I don’t believe in coincidences. I believe in a higher power at play. So instead of answering, let me leave you with two statements.

In the movie, the group found out that the answers they were seeking were in them the whole time. They had exactly what they needed the whole time; they just needed to act on them or activate the power inside them. Also this: We were created to do a certain thing. Sometimes we need to search inside of us for what exactly we are being called to do and then activate. There is a purpose to this journey, but it is up to us to figure it out. A personal quest, if you will, but there is a secret to unlocking it. You must let the one who created you in, and then let him out. We must reflect all of those qualities and then everything will fall into place. Then the detours of life seem a little less strenuous if we let the Creator create. Before we know it, we will be standing outside the gates of the city and we will know: All is well.