Stages of Wandering

Why do you wander?  The bells toll and yet you wander with no seen purpose?  In the hills, on the streets, you look lost, yet you ask none for assistance, why, what is it that you are looking for?

Why do you wander the hills seeking the attention of another?  You follow whoever wears the brightest hat, why, what purpose do you serve just following?  No questions do you ask, you never even raise your eyes to see where you walk; I have seen you slip, fall into the creek, how long until you fall to your demise?

Why do you wander without purpose even though you know others follow?  So you wish not to be alone in your suffering or do you like the feeling of power?  Many follow you, many become lost, lost in the shadows fearful of their location, why do you bring them out here and leave them?  What is your motive?

I watch as you wander, yet you do not look lost.  You face is calm, no pain nor worry do you display.  What, what is different with you, why is your wandering different from the rest?  You pause and the sun warms your face, it is as though you are listening, though the rays of the sun have a message.  I watch as you wander because some follow and they, too seem to find solace, seem to wander with purpose.  How do you find purpose in wandering?  I see many attempt claim these hills, and the hills claim many but they never, ever claim you.  Why?  What do you know that I do not, what do you know that others have yet to discover?  

The stages of wandering, we have all visited each, they are like a right of passage.  Claiming independence we want everything our own way, we want to prove our strength, prove our ability to make decisions, prove our ability to make it on our own and so we wander.  Wander we do, without purpose though we tell ourselves otherwise.  We become lost among the trees and frightened of our own shadows but still we need to prove something yet nothing do we need proving.  Yet still we wander.  Then comes a time when we, in claiming our independence, we follow whoever screams the loudest, whoever claims the strongest protest.  Follow we do, through the woods, up the mountains, through the creeks and yet we never lift our eyes for the soft ground shows the footsteps of those we follow until we come to rocks.  It is here that we become lost, here we lose the trail and decide to hide fearful of our location.  Wandering for so long without discovering purpose we know not where to go so we hide in the shadows where no one can see our pain, no one witness our struggles.  Time passes and we become angered at our situation, cold, dark, alone, no longer do we wish to sit as a victim and so we emerge from the shadows no more aware than when we first entered.  Yet we are determined to wander so we present we know where we are going, we put on a knowledgeable facade yet inside we are lost.  Others begin to follow, the trail becomes long and though we know we know not where we are going we tell no one of our secret so they continue to follow.  The power feels amazing and we hasten our steps as do our followers until the time comes when we feel badly for our actions so we sit an rest by the lake’s edge where the sun warms our heart.  It is here we hear the whisperings from within, whisperings of love, of peace, of hope, of joy.  Intrigued by these wordless words we surrender to the moment, surrender to the faith within and suddenly we are no longer lost, no longer do we fear our position for we are purposed by faith and lead by hope.  The Father speaks, He excites our heart with the truths of His promises and we listen.  All our years of wandering and never did we stop to listen or look; now we do both and now we are whole.  And so we stand, most of those who once followed have becomes shadow walkers, but that makes no matter for we are now purposed with the Father, purposed by faith, we rise and walk.  We still wander yet it is with purpose that we wander, forging a trail of love we walk and listen, we speak, we question and we listen for answers.  As we walk, our head is held high with our face always toward the Son for His love fuels our steps.  And so we wander, message discovered via the heart, message passed on via action.  The discovery of life came in a moment of silence, a moment we chose to listen.  And so the rest of our days we will wander with purpose strengthen by God that we may move in love, surrender to love, and act with understanding as we walk, leaving prints for others to discover purpose.  This stage of wandering is a stage where life is lived, life is purposed in the Father, life is our own.  Wander with the Lord today.