The Hidden Markers on a journey

We live in the Midwest, surrounded by small towns and fields of corn and soybeans. When the fields come up, it can feel confusing.

Disorientating.

The land is flat here.

Each field is held in by clusters of trees. It is beautiful but runs the risk of looking the same. As if it is missing something.

Markers.

I like markers, simple things to let me know I am on the right track.

Where I am from, my navigation was directed by landmarks. A foothill, a train track, the street lined with Palms or the winding roads into the Pines.

There was height, which lent itself to finding one’s way a bit easier.

Here, amidst the fields, there is little height to vary the view. No in-your-face landmarks. You can only see what is right in front of you.

When I am on a journey, I still look for the markers.

Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing- Helen Keller

Do they seem to be pointing to this…or that? One decision…or another?

The beautiful thing about nature is that it’s never stagnant. New clues are always around us. Upon closer inspection, we can find those markers.

Turn left at the burnt out tree, keep your eye out for the pond full of Canadian geese. And oh, when the fields are ready for harvest? Magical clues of change all around. Useful tools to our sensibilities, really.

Those subtle changes, discreet alterations, tell us a story.

The Christian experience, from start to finish, is a journey of faith – Watchman Nee

They remind me of low tide along an ocean bay. Have you ever smelled it?

It is distinctly, well, stinky.

The ocean floor burps up its offering and the sea pulls it out, in exchange for returning the water peacefully in the next cycle.

But you know, that smell is a marker too.

That the tide is changing, and it will come back in.

There will be a shift in boat alignments, the sea lions will rest on another dock, and the gulls will keep watch along the bridge.

Two seas. One of green and golden cornfields and one of ever-changing ocean tides.

Which goes to show, no matter where we go?

Markers are there. Waiting for us to find them.

If you know that God loves you, you should never question a directive from Him. It will always be right and best. When He gives you a directive, you are not just to observe it, discuss it, or debate it. You are to obey it- Henry Blackaby

Maybe the search is part of the plan?

What fun would it be to go through life knowing how every turn was about to play out?

Sometimes it’s the journey that teaches you a lot about your destination- Drake

It is in the searching, the very hunting of markers, that we know we are indeed on the right track.

The inquisitive one notices her world and leans in closer for inspection. She allows for, and anticipates, the margin of time left for appreciating the mundane. SImple living allows us to look deeper, as our time is not all consumed with committments.