The Road Home
As I watch my dog twitch and listen to his muffled sleepy yips, I conclude that we are not alone in our dreaming capabilities, even if we are alone in our dreams. Both the conscious and subconscious regions of our minds reach out for something more, something different from that which our ordinary days offer us. We dream of opportunities and relationships lost, of chances never forthcoming, of yesterday and tomorrow, of mistakes and accidents, we dream of life as we close our eyes to pain and exhaustion. Until that day when we come to understand the limitation of our lives. That end, which we’ve intentionally kept just beyond the horizon, is a place which only the hands of tomorrow can unveil. When we get close enough to that horizon, we stop dreaming about ourselves long enough to look back. Such glances or staring generally reveals regrets amidst our fondest memories. These feelings mix with fear changing our perceptions about the here, now and what’s next. The rarest among us has no regrets, the rest must find something to look forward to, for the road behind us ends in darkness.
It is only then that many turn their faces toward that which only their backs have felt before. Although a river of fear blocks our forward access, there is no road back. There is only a choice of light or darkness. We’ve ignored our dreams and the voice of reason imbedded so firmly in them, for deep within each soul, our instinctive sense seeks the path home. We’ve all heard the story’s of lost dogs, who have against impossible odds found their way back to their homes and master. If the lesser creatures of this experience, were afforded such profound instincts …“who teaches more to us than to the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the air?” Job 35:11. God, has imbedded in our souls the map to His and our home. He will even help us find and follow the map, we just need to ask for His help and follow His directions. He may inquire of our interest from time to time, but it is up to us to reply. Amidst this hope, there is sadness. Not within the hope itself but along the path which leads to it. At our next crossroad, there will be a choice. To live for today or to live for tomorrow. Soon enough our today’s will end, but our tomorrow’s need never end. Waiting invites the river of fear that separates us, while inviting God to help us now, answers our most primal imbedded instinct.
JC Calkins with COMMON SENSE 4 UNCOMMON PEOPLE
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