The Thread...

Where am I headed?

I have a lot of conversations with people in which the presiding question is in the neighborhood of, How do I know which path to take?  The pace of daily life is cruising at an all-time speed, and it seems there is little or no time to attend to the deeper conversations that our lives are asking us to listen to. 

I could points fingers at any number of things; you could too, but that likely doesn’t do any of us much good as it relates to what I would call, the deep guiding question: “What direction is life my headed?”

I sense this question about our path has a lot less to do with what I do and a lot more to do with who I am.  This poem (one of my favorites) gives us a great image around what this deep question is asking us to hold on to and never let go of!

The Way It Is
There’s a thread you follow. It goes among
things that change. But it doesn’t change.
People wonder about what you are pursuing.
You have to explain about the thread.
But it is hard for others to see.
While you hold it you can’t get lost.
Tragedies happen; people get hurt
or die; and you suffer and get old.
Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.
You don’t ever let go of the thread.

By William Stafford, from The Way It Is, 1998