The Long Unwinding Road

There are times when it is hard, if not impossible, to imagine what lies ahead...down the road-of-life.  When I was sixteen...I had no clue. 
At nineteen, when the twins were born...I might have thought I knew what parenthood was like, but not really.  Not even close.
When I began my professional career as a clergy-person, at age twenty-nine, I was in no way whatsoever clear on what sort of things were yet to come.

Since every day unfolds in surprising ways for us, it should not come as a shock that the road-of-life is never easy to discern.

How far down the road can you see?  Can you see past tomorrow?  Can you see a year down the road?  Can you see beyond the present moment?

Life is a long unwinding road, I think.  So straight that it is tempting to think we can see all the way to the horizon...as the road stretches out ahead of us.

But that is just not possible...to see all the way to the horizon.  We don't have much of a clue as to what lies ahead.  We like to think we do, but we do not.  There are simply too many variables...too much randomness.

What do you make of the picture above?  An elderly woman...with a cane...trudging down an empty street...noone else is around...the road stretches straight ahead into...into what?

You see my point.  I rest my case.

Pack your bags, its gonna be quite a trip...life-long, in fact.