One check of my weather app told me my 6000 step trek goal would be happening first thing this morning. Trying to beat the heat, I laced my walking shoes, propped my sunglasses on my head, clipped on my husband's iPod, and pounded the pavement as fast as my hip allowed. Without a premeditated route, I set out on the familiar neighborhood roads willing to make selected turns as they presented themselves. I was content with the iPod shuffling from Adele to Billy Joel to Bryan Adams to Tim McGraw to Casting Crowns to Mercy Me.
Sunshine, warm air, and a time for prayer. My brain began to shuffle through my prayer list stopping quickly to pray that my young college graduate would see the signs directing him on the new road he is about to venture.
That's when I really began seeing the signs. I mean I realized the signs all around me in my own familiar village were an allusion. They are reminders to heed soul directives. Maybe, we all need to graduate again and again in this life to be reminded to read and heed the signs around us every single day.
I can certainly blast motorcycle fast past some of these signs in my path, but do I really want to miss the signs? There's a way to live looking and listening beyond the physical. There's a way of seeing that requires a deeper look than a glance before we embark. What lies beyond our daily efforts of rising, working, and spending moments in our TV chairs? Is there something deeper about life that runs parallel to these immediate tasks set before us? Before exiting our house, it's good to stop and look beyond the daily events, the housework, the job, the errand, the ballgame, the kid event as we travel that day's path in order to rightly set it in perspective of the big picture and understand the value of these events in the realm of today, of tomorrow, of life.
Then, isn't it important to fasten our seat belts for the ride of our lives? We want a life of purpose that requires passion, courage, and persistence. We don't want to sit still on the sidelines, silenced and numb. Yet, we don't want to rush through life in a blinded blur, either. Rather, we want a life that requires us to fasten our seat belt. We want a life we can't help wanting to live because it provides a rush of adrenaline that opens our hearts to possibility and beauty. I want to expect the awe of mountain beauty when I sky glide. I want to be refreshed by the sound of waves hitting the shore under a moon lit sky.
While I'm moving through my days, I want to remember there's a rhythm in the blues, a give and take, a push and pull, an ebb and flow to the pattern of this reality. There's a speed limit to my life. Some days our actions move us slowly through a day or year, and some days the speed limit increases as life gets revved up a bit more. When we parent little guys in our younger years, it seems like the speed limit of some of the days are years long. But, oh, as the sign warns, we definitely want to take it slowly. We are being schooled through these days we will want to treasure. Slowing down helps us to remember and to learn so many lessons about others and ourselves: sacrifice, selfless giving, patience, discipline, joy....
The bottom line of most signs is that life is meant to be lived in community with others, that we have the privilege to cross the roads of life together with so many different others, that we are driven to live to take others with us on the journey. Therefore, the best allusions are those signs that remind us to treat others well: love, hold a hand, carry burdens, come along beside efforts, choose a partner, but don't go life alone. And as a bonus, maybe a partner of the four legged kind will brighten the road you walk.
There will always be some cautionary signs. The dry bone times in life cause us to want to park and stare at life as it passes by. Those faced paced, out of control times cause us to want to step off the merry-go-round in search of a bench to find some silent sanity and to hear our own heartbeat and breath inhale. Those dark times when even music doesn't elevate the soul cause us to want to park under covers. Some moments, we might just simply want to step off the parade of days and sit in the grass for a spell. On all these kind of days, the signs remind us that we don't get to park any of our kinds of times. We can't stop life. There will be the good and the sad. We will get rest, but we won't get to sit this life out.
We all wish we had a sign to tell us exactly which way to enter in to things and which way to exit gracefully. Life might be a whole lot easier if we had a clear directive on places to enter and exit, what to start and what to end. What school or job should I take? Where should I live? Should I buy a house? Should we move? Should I get involved with a project? Should I get married? How many kids should we have? Should I make this financial decision? How should I advise this person? Sometimes, there are signs along life's road to direct us safely through this decisions. When there are no signs, there will always be Grace for the outcome.
Man, who wants weeds in life? You clearly recognize the weeds. They seem to infiltrate and grow faster than anything else in the garden of life, usurping time, worry, and nutrients needed for growth. You pull those suckers out, and before you know it, they have risen again to choke out the grass and other beauties in the garden. You can grow weary in clearing the path for the goodness of the other plants growing. Don't let things cause you to grow weary. Pull those things out of your life that usurp the energy and time from what matters, no matter how many times you have to go back and pull.
It's interesting that one of the meanings of the word Blair means "plain" and the meaning of Owens meaning "well-born." Clearly, the sign reminds us to be sure that before we make it to this kind of home that we be plain and simply well-born. Be well-born and contribute in this life. Be born to look for the signs that lead you deeper toward seeking its possibility and beauty. Show up in a way that is significant for others. Be sure the audience in your world has seen you on its stage. You don't have to have a major announcement about yourself, but shouldn't we all be proud to announce that we are bringing something significant to the world?
The signs I saw along today's journey were my allusive reminders to heed some simple instructions in caring for my soul. Maybe, we all are reminded to heed the signs around us and graduate every single day from one life lesson to another.
Sunshine, warm air, and a time for prayer. My brain began to shuffle through my prayer list stopping quickly to pray that my young college graduate would see the signs directing him on the new road he is about to venture.
That's when I really began seeing the signs. I mean I realized the signs all around me in my own familiar village were an allusion. They are reminders to heed soul directives. Maybe, we all need to graduate again and again in this life to be reminded to read and heed the signs around us every single day.
I can certainly blast motorcycle fast past some of these signs in my path, but do I really want to miss the signs? There's a way to live looking and listening beyond the physical. There's a way of seeing that requires a deeper look than a glance before we embark. What lies beyond our daily efforts of rising, working, and spending moments in our TV chairs? Is there something deeper about life that runs parallel to these immediate tasks set before us? Before exiting our house, it's good to stop and look beyond the daily events, the housework, the job, the errand, the ballgame, the kid event as we travel that day's path in order to rightly set it in perspective of the big picture and understand the value of these events in the realm of today, of tomorrow, of life. 
Then, isn't it important to fasten our seat belts for the ride of our lives? We want a life of purpose that requires passion, courage, and persistence. We don't want to sit still on the sidelines, silenced and numb. Yet, we don't want to rush through life in a blinded blur, either. Rather, we want a life that requires us to fasten our seat belt. We want a life we can't help wanting to live because it provides a rush of adrenaline that opens our hearts to possibility and beauty. I want to expect the awe of mountain beauty when I sky glide. I want to be refreshed by the sound of waves hitting the shore under a moon lit sky.
While I'm moving through my days, I want to remember there's a rhythm in the blues, a give and take, a push and pull, an ebb and flow to the pattern of this reality. There's a speed limit to my life. Some days our actions move us slowly through a day or year, and some days the speed limit increases as life gets revved up a bit more. When we parent little guys in our younger years, it seems like the speed limit of some of the days are years long. But, oh, as the sign warns, we definitely want to take it slowly. We are being schooled through these days we will want to treasure. Slowing down helps us to remember and to learn so many lessons about others and ourselves: sacrifice, selfless giving, patience, discipline, joy....
There will always be some cautionary signs. The dry bone times in life cause us to want to park and stare at life as it passes by. Those faced paced, out of control times cause us to want to step off the merry-go-round in search of a bench to find some silent sanity and to hear our own heartbeat and breath inhale. Those dark times when even music doesn't elevate the soul cause us to want to park under covers. Some moments, we might just simply want to step off the parade of days and sit in the grass for a spell. On all these kind of days, the signs remind us that we don't get to park any of our kinds of times. We can't stop life. There will be the good and the sad. We will get rest, but we won't get to sit this life out. 
We all wish we had a sign to tell us exactly which way to enter in to things and which way to exit gracefully. Life might be a whole lot easier if we had a clear directive on places to enter and exit, what to start and what to end. What school or job should I take? Where should I live? Should I buy a house? Should we move? Should I get involved with a project? Should I get married? How many kids should we have? Should I make this financial decision? How should I advise this person? Sometimes, there are signs along life's road to direct us safely through this decisions. When there are no signs, there will always be Grace for the outcome.
Man, who wants weeds in life? You clearly recognize the weeds. They seem to infiltrate and grow faster than anything else in the garden of life, usurping time, worry, and nutrients needed for growth. You pull those suckers out, and before you know it, they have risen again to choke out the grass and other beauties in the garden. You can grow weary in clearing the path for the goodness of the other plants growing. Don't let things cause you to grow weary. Pull those things out of your life that usurp the energy and time from what matters, no matter how many times you have to go back and pull.
It's interesting that one of the meanings of the word Blair means "plain" and the meaning of Owens meaning "well-born." Clearly, the sign reminds us to be sure that before we make it to this kind of home that we be plain and simply well-born. Be well-born and contribute in this life. Be born to look for the signs that lead you deeper toward seeking its possibility and beauty. Show up in a way that is significant for others. Be sure the audience in your world has seen you on its stage. You don't have to have a major announcement about yourself, but shouldn't we all be proud to announce that we are bringing something significant to the world?
The signs I saw along today's journey were my allusive reminders to heed some simple instructions in caring for my soul. Maybe, we all are reminded to heed the signs around us and graduate every single day from one life lesson to another.
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