One day, I began taking photos of paths in nature as we hiked in forest preserves, national parks and along mountain trails - from Kane and DuPage counties in Illinois, to Starved Rock State Park, to Phoenix, Sedona, Bend and Palm Desert, and to Crater Lake and Joshua Tree. I love the serenity, majesty and purity of nature and see God’s hand at work when we’re out hiking in the places we love.
Paths are a metaphor for expressing the direction of our lives, our journey toward discovering who we’re becoming – intellectually, spiritually, artistically and in our many life roles that play out through the years.
Paths remind us that if you want real answers and to discover what looms over the horizon, you’ve got to go the distance. Though painful at times, they tell us the biggest thing about moving forward is looking backward at the trail we’ve journeyed so that we remember the struggles we’ve endured, how we overcame real challenges, and to illuminate the blazes and signs on the path that will return us safely to where we began.
Sometimes there is no path. What then?
In my office is wall art that reminds me of the journey I’ve been on for so long:
“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
Find your path, or create a new trail.
Husband, father, grandfather, uncle, brother, son, friend, mentor. While we long for the destination, it is about the journey, what we learn about ourselves and how we move forward into the future.
