I recently came across a quote by Henry David Thoreau on his thoughts on pathways.
“As a single footstep will not make a path on earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind.”
As I pondered this thought, my mind was drawn to why do I like pathways?
They are familiar ways to go. They show that someone has gone before me. They are sure and certain to get you somewhere. The obstacles have been pushed aside and have cleared a smooth pathway.
I like “mom and pop” stores, where you know you will see familiar faces. I like stores that are not always changing where things are located. I like to have my name used with a note of recognition when I arrive for an appointment.
I like to hear, “It’s so good to see you again.”
I like the adventure of new things discovered, but I like returning to the familiar.
I like the sense of reading a new book by a familiar author.
I like trying a new dish at my favorite restaurant.
I like welcoming new people into my life and fitting them into what I already love about my life.
So, what is it about pathways that intrigue me? Making them. Taking the first step on a pristine piece of ground and making a trail of my own footsteps. Or finding a well-worn path of someone else’s making and putting my first step behind another’s.
There are no time limits or boundaries to how many times a path can be walked. In fact, the journey gets richer with time and footsteps.
What about the pathways we make in our minds? We make them by recounting sweet memories. We make them when we watch a familiar movie or hear a familiar song. When we pull out a mug from the cabinet gifted to us by a friend or purchased to remember a place we have visited.
Our minds, as with the earth, are just waiting to be visited repeatedly to create a pathway to a special place of our choosing.
How should we proceed as we walk the pathways of this new year? What pathways will our feet journey on? We don’t have all the details ourselves, however, Psalm 119:105 tells us, “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”
God is with us through His word and through His presence. We can step into each day knowing there is a plan, a guide, and a protector.
So, whether our day turns out to be something familiar or something new, God has been there and is there lighting the way and giving us confidence to keep going. Keep reading His word and looking to Him for the way forward.
May you find the pathways of this new year well-lit and full of adventure that God has planned out for your journey.
