Starting Again

It started as a stone flying through the air.  It struck you and sent you to your knees.  The stone became a boulder that you placed on your shoulders; too heavy to lift.  Then came the first shovel-full of dirt.  Specks of dust fell from your hair and wiggled their way down your back.  Another shovel-full of dirt, then another, and another.  It didn’t take long for you to become buried with the boulder on your back and mud surrounding you.  Darkness consumed you.  A hand reached through the grave and you latched onto it for dear life.  It pulled you through and lifted you into the air.

 

Your arms are spread wide as you hover three feet off the ground and the sunlight touches your face.  The wind knocks free all the dirt clinging to your skin.  You hear the birds singing for the first time in a long time.  You smell the flowers surrounding you in the field.  Peace washes over you as you float back down to the ground. 

There’s the road before your feet; divided in two directions.  You know one of the ways.  You’ve been down that road before.  Pain awaits.  You don’t know the other path; how many hills there will be to climb, how many deserts to suffer through, how many nirvanas to lavish in.

You take a knee; this time without the boulder on your shoulders.  Strength fills your soul and prompts you to get up.  A spark ignites a passion for the unknown.  The known path will not control you any longer.  You remove its map from your pocket and set it ablaze.  You take a step in the direction of new life.  Words appear on the ground before you; engraved in stone and bold.  In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

You catch a glimpse of the road ahead.  There are dark clouds, but sunlight beyond.  There are mountains, but valleys of peace.  There are thorns, but acres of willow trees.  Will you continue on this new journey or turn back to the road of ease?  Taking another step forward you feel arms embracing you in thanks for continuing.  A voice whispers on the breeze, “I will always be with you.”