Crossing Paths

Lately, I have been thinking back on some of the people I’ve met over the past few years.  Some I met through college and others I encountered on my adventures around the country (like the Kansas dig and Grand Canyon trips I wrote about).  I decided to write this poem in honor of the many like-minded people who have encouraged me and that I hope I was able to encourage as well.

As I travel through this thing called life,

I come to a place where my path splits in two;

One path is wide and smooth as a knife,

The other is rough and narrow, its travelers few.

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I choose the path where few have trod,

To traveling friends I bid a despondent farewell,

For they have chosen the path which is broad,

So I continue alone, as far as one can tell.

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Though the path looks lonely and dark,

Soon I discover I’m not truly traveling alone,

For Jesus walks with me, His way is my mark,

And step by step, to me my path He’s shown.

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Sometimes I see others traveling along,

Walking before, behind, or right alongside me,

We greatly rejoice and join in a song,

Thanking God for the encouragement we see.

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With some of these friends I walk for a while,

Others I encounter for but a brief moment,

God leads us different ways, though not vile,

To guide us each in the way He has sent.

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Though many of these I may never see again,

While I travel on the path I’m given,

God gives each meeting not in vain,

Helping each along the path we’re driven.

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Though often it seems I travel alone,

I know that others are on this narrow road,

Jesus is there, and I’m forever His own,

In eternity together we’ll sing of the love He showed.