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The Path?
By Rev. Laura Smidzik
The Path
Life, the saying goes, is a journey,
and who could argue with that?
We’ve all experienced the surprising turns,
the nearly-impassible swamp, the meadow
of flowers that turned out not to be quite
so blissful and benign as we first thought,
the crest of the hill where the road
smoothed out and sloped toward home.
Our job, we say, is to remain faithful
to the path before us. Which is an assumption
as common as it is absurd.
Really? Look ahead. What do you see?
If there is a path marked out in front of you
it was almost certainly laid down for someone else.
The path only unfolds behind us,
our steps themselves laying down the road.
You can look back and see the sign posts—
the ones you followed and the ones you missed—
but there are no markers for what lies ahead.
You can tell the story of how
you forded the stream or got lost
on the short cut that wasn’t,
how you trekked your way to courage or a heart,
but all of that comes after the fact.
There is no road ahead.
There is only the walking,
the tales we weave of our adventures,
and the songs we sing
to call our companions on.
The Path? By Rev. Laura Smidzik
“Our job, we say, is to remain faithful to the path before us. Which is an assumption as common as it is absurd…There is no road ahead. There is only the walking, the tales we weave of our adventures, and the songs we sing to call our companions on.” I recently read this poem to the exploratory teams from New Brighton UCC and MSUS. I believe it expresses beautifully the reality of how we journey through change and create our storied lives together and individually.
Our lives at MSUS are full of unknowns at this moment in time. Soon you will learn who the search team decides will be the incoming minister. Soon you will learn of the results of our conversations with New Brighton UCC and whether we and they decide to move forward with renting space to us and exploring ways that our congregations can join together in multiple areas of church life. And soon, we will vote on whether we will change our name to Merging Waters Unitarian Universalist Congregation or remain Michael Servetus Unitarian Society. By the time next fall comes along, the path that is now ahead of us will be behind you and this congregation will already be weaving stories of your shared history.
None of these decisions and actions are unique to congregations, and yet I want to honor that having all of them happen concurrently is A LOT! Thank goodness for the joyful, singing, devoted, caring, insightful companions that accompany us on this journey. I think back to last Sunday and the Generosity Joy Jam which had a larger-than-life spirit and displayed the talents, humor, and tenderness that is exhibited here all the time. As the path is forged ahead you can trust that you will be created together with curiosity, courage, and love.
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