signs

pretty much every where you look there are signs. street signs, dominate our entire field of vision as we drive down the road. there are a whole group of them telling you just what you can and cannot do"turn here, no turn on red, left turn only, straight, no turns, u-turns prohibited, left turn yield" those are fairly cut and dry. then there are the whole group of sorts that don't tell you specifically how to drive, but inform you that if you should happen to want to end up at a certain destination you must follow them. "40 miles to rome, hospital up ahead, to amphitheater take second left" and of course "food, gas, lodging".

often people talk about life as a journey, and we're like imaginary cars moving along the highway of life traveling to our destination. some people even talk about how they have finally 'arrived' or others talk about how the journey is half the fun. personally i think i must have lost my map, or am traveling in a foreign country where i can't read the signs.

how many times have i done the ridiculous? the life journey equivalent of making a u-turn on a one way street, or speeding ahead passing signs screaming 'bridge out!'? none of my signs make sense. i envy those people who seem to have been clued into the legend of these maps, who can understand these signs. it's all Greek to me.

when i haven't understood what to do, or where to go even God hasn't intervened to help me make sense of it all. no burning bushes speak to me, no hands writing on my walls. sure i've met a lot of talking asses, but none that have offered any valuable directions.

i suppose this is where i'm suppose to accept the adage that 'you have to make your own way' in life. although i'm not sure i'm ready to wield a machete and go hacking through the wilderness to find my own way, not even really knowing where i'm headed; i do think that there has to be some letting go of tradition, we shouldn't always have to follow signs. we can go driving off the path, exploring places that haven't ever been traveled over before.

after all, in the end those of us who do make our own way will be able to say we took "the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference."