Always the Road Redux

Posted byChaplainmikePosted inWilderness Journey

Always the Road Redux

All my life I’ve thought one day this wandering will end,
The place I seek appearing, and there I am — at home.
Some sweet promised, fruitful, verdant, restful land.
I smile, breathe it in, and settle down.

There we laugh and feast and play ’til dark
Then lie within each other’s arms and sigh
And sleep as those untroubled or perplexed,
Wake to breathe the dew and steaming coffee mist.

Along the way I’ve sat at pleasant tables,
I have drunk the hospitality of friends;
Laughed until our bellies ached, falling on the floor
Ticking clock no check to end our revelry.

And then again the road, always the road,
Waving, shrinking figures in the rear view mirror.
Digging through the bin I find my sunglasses,
Visor down, driving toward the light.

But now more often I am tending roots,
Good and wholesome work that grounds me too.
Not quite a place of rest, though. Too much
Wind has passed beneath these well worn wings.

Now and then it comes to me — a highway that goes ever on,
Which I must follow if and when I can.
And eager, anxious, restless feet trying to find some larger way.
The question haunts: “And whither then? I cannot say.”

 • • •

Read “Always the Road”

11 thoughts on “Always the Road Redux”

  1. I woke this morning singing this hymn.
    An oldie but a goodie.

    He is The Way, The Truth and The Life.

    Susan

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  2. Robert, I actually agree with you more than you know but I have never showed that side. My apology to you !!!!

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  4. Stbndct, I can sincerely say that I’m glad we agree on something — “Jesus is Lord, and everything else is bullshit.”

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  5. I actually didn’t know the allusion was to Tolkien; though I have read The Hobbit and the Trilogy, it’s was many moons ago.

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  7. “The Road goes ever on and on
    Down from the door where it began.
    Now far ahead the Road has gone,
    And I must follow, if I can,
    Pursuing it with eager feet,
    Until it joins some larger way
    Where many paths and errands meet.
    And whither then? I cannot say”
    ( J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring )

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  9. Robert I completely agree with you. Does the road go on forever ? What a thought that doesn’t bring me any relief. I can only think of one quote that I try and live by now
    As Stanley Hauerwas has said, “Jesus is Lord, and everything else is bullshit.”

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  10. Indeed.
    I’ve grown to old to dream of arriving.
    The world is always changing; one cannot answer “whiter then?” as the place that is does not yet exist, and will be fading away by the time I arrive.

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  11. Does the road go on forever? It’s a wearying prospect to me, one that I prefer not to think about. For now and the foreseeable future, for the rest of my life, I’ll just place one foot in front of the other as needed, and pray for the strength to do that much.

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