i love the picture of a bare tree. it is a picture of perfect life to me. void of color, of outward thriving life, but yet very much alive. it is how the tree survives, even in the roughest, coldest season, it finds a way to still remain living.

enough about the trees, that is not why i put the picture up, although they are kinda neat. i love the idea of a path that you cannot see the end of. this picture exemplifies it for me: a bridge clearly showing you cross here, but a shady, foggy haze awaits you outside your immediate vision. you know you are supposed to cross, but you have no clue where you are going. i feel God does this repeatedly in our lives in order that continue not to rely on our short-sided vision where we can only see a few meters ahead, but have complete trust, aka faith, that the path will lead us to where we need to go.

the other aspect of this picture i draw inspiration from is the aspect of the bridge path itself. the idea of walking or following a path has a lot of unseen meaning behind it. it speaks of how you, the follower, leaves all the experiences, joys, and failures behind, not looking back, but keeping yourself focus on the now, the what's right in front of you. even the bridge aspect, an impassable barrier, or even just a barrier that will make you dirty to wade through it, a bridge is the thought of you overcoming the greatest (or smallest) barriers in order to continue on your path.

i mean, roughly speaking, how well would a stroll through the woods be if all you did was watch the scenery behind you, or continue peering over the ledge onto what seems to be impending stress? it would cause you more harm to to do that than even to just not go on the path at all.

one thing i am learning now is that these paths are not meant for sprinters. i very much live in an idealists world, and once i have my mind on a certain goal, i go 134.6% (on average) to accomplish that goal. when in actuality, sprinting into haze, though not focusing on all you leave behind or under, you dont get to experience every detail and intricacy because you are moving so fast that it all becomes a blur, to the point where the path turns but you are so focused on finishing the path that you blow right past the turn that actually is clearly marked.

conclusion: live in each moment that God walks along side of you. i watched kung fu panda recently (i know kinda off subject, but anyways. . .) and they used one quote in there that always makes me rethink how i live my life:

". . . you are too concerned with what was and what will be. Yesterday is history, tomorrow is mystery, today is a gift, that's why it's called the present."