Don't Let the Moss Collect on Your Shoes

Yesterday morning we had huge storms coming in which had formed a few miles out in The Gulf . The wind howled , the rain pounded , and the thunder cascaded like booming echos through time . Today as I began my walk I was rewarded by bright sunshine and the pleasures of rain cooled air . Too , the air had dried out so the usually oppressive humidity was gone . My well worn path had dried also but I noticed the hanging moss was still holding the previous day's moisture loosening tiny droplets that fell intermitantly on my head . My route has a couple of opportunities to divert into the woods . Two are old fire roads which meander through the palmetto scrub and oak hammocks . The other is a nature trail winding its way through the woods cutting back eventually to the main path . How fanciful I thought . Perhaps I should take one of the old fire roads and see where it leads . Entering the woods I came upon a divergence . Which path to take , I pondered ? Suddenly , my mind recollected Robert Frost's famous poem , Road Less Traveled .

Two Roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler , long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth

Then took the other just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear
Though as for that , the passing there
Had worn them really about the same

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh , I kept the first for another day !
Yet , knowing how way leads onto way
I doubted I should ever come back

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence
Two roads diverged in a wood
And I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference .

So , I did place my feet on the path less traveled by . The morning sun had not penetrated the woods yet and the taller grasses on my less trodden path licked and wetted my legs as I strode farther into the woods . The sights were alluring and the smells seminal . Why hadn't I trod this path before ? I knew it was there . I had not taken the time or forethought to choose this path . In a large sense I had been traveling a less worn path by beginning my walking journey almost three years ago . But , I must have been ready to try a divergent path The Devine had provided me . I had to choose though . We have many paths placed before us by God , some worn by ages of footprints , others not chosen for whatever reason , grown over with the weeds of time . Why do we not choose these overgrown paths ? Fear and the fact it is easy to walk the paths of the ages . We know where these paths go . We are insured of a start and a finish . We do this in our work , our relationships , and our everyday lives . It is why our chosen vocations become tedium , our relationships predictably fragile , and our lives monotonous . God did not put us here to waller in predictable misery . He placed us here to rejoice in His Divine creation and choose paths less worn . If we refuse to move we refuse to choose . Do not let the moss collect on your shoes .