Which Path?

The winter weather leaves behind mounts of white, once fluffy, now somewhat frozen blankets with which we are forced to contend.  A once easy walk to the neighbor’s becomes the trek of the century; a five minute drive to the corner store turns into an hour slip and slide all for milk and eggs.  The inconvenience of the storm leaves us perplexed, aggravated and seriously contemplating the necessity of our next trip for forging a new path through the new fallen snow is exhausting.  The second trek is more frightening than the first because paths have been made leaving us with a choice, do we forge yet a new path and contend with the impending exhaustion or do we take the earlier path already somewhat cleared?  In choosing the latter, we discover that we rarely look up for with each step we fight for balance as this path, susceptible to the new weather patterns, has a layer of ice and requires much attention.  This path we follow, while less physically exhausting, exhausts us mentally for, once at the end of the path, we discover we know not where we are; lost among hundreds of tracks.  The same is true for the drive...white knuckled creating a path through the snow, forgetting to breath then pulling up to the store out of breath and wrecked from stress.  Now, day four of the storm, many tracks have been laid on the road; trusting the person before was competent in winter driving, do we follow their tracks?  Where will they lead: to the store or off the road?  Will we fish tale or will we remain in route to our destination?  Whether it be a physical destination or our journey with Christ, the path which we choose can make all the difference.  Robert Frost reminds us about the road less traveled for while paving our own way, making each mark in the snow, may be exhausting, but really, what victory comes without drive, without sacrifice?  We could leave our path to the persons who came before us or we can mark our path with God, knowing that with each step we do not walk alone.  Exhaustion can wear us down only if we let it or it can be our greatest resource forcing us to leave our minds and live in our hearts; listening, hearing, seeing and moving as love with God by our side.  Sure choosing an unmarked path is more challenging but who ever said that following our faith was easy?  Faith is our person connection with the Father, while it is meant to be shared, we must first understand and accept such faith as our own for if we know not what we have, it cannot be shared.   And so the snow has fallen, do we forge a new path or follow one already created by a stranger?