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| The look on his face tells it all! |
After sitting down in Tony's Restaurant at Birch Run, for lunch and having ordered our meal. David looked at me with awestruck wonder trying to figure out how in the world he was supposed to actually eat "this THANG!"
We had already walked right at 10 miles this morning and we did need something to eat that would replenish our energy but when the sandwiches were brought out... David looked a bit worried!
So you gotta ask yourself in a situation like this... 'how do you eat an elephant?' And the answer is... "one bit at a time!" This was going to be an adventure! Not only was the day's longest trek 'something else' this place where people actually wait in line outside the door to get in and eat was 'something else' too!
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| Who would of 'thunk it? |
I can remember the first time I came in here with a bunch of men from Brightmoor Tabernacle who were going up "North" to work on a church in St. Helens, MI almost 25 years ago.
We all stopped here to eat on the way up. Robin Dubuc said that I needed to have just a 'single BLT' for supper. So I agreed, thinking that I could order something else later but when they brought it to the table, I just busted out laughing! They knew how big the sandwich was but no one told me! The joke was on me! It was funny!
So David and I spent almost an hour eating and resting and eating and eating and eating! LOL! It was good to rest a bit to let our legs recharge!
So after paying the bill, we went back outside and headed West past McDonald's and straight out to Maple walking on Main Street into downtown Birch Run. Just before we crossed the Rail Road Tracks there in the center of town we turned right and headed North up Maple. We walked passed a big mill on the right where there are grain silos. The road wound around the mill and between the Rail Road tracks and the road took a Northerly direction as we walked toward Saginaw!
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| My view as David led |
I didn't know it at the time but this stretch of the trek for this first week for me was to be the most challenging! The roads here were straight and flat and from our perspective at times... just disappeared off into infinity where you felt like 'this will never end!' Without a purpose in your 'walk' and a goal in 'getting there', you will quit! You will say to yourself, 'why am I doing this? This is useless! I am getting no where!'
It is very much like life itself! In our daily lives, if we do not have a goal to reach for, or a purpose for which to work... we will consider it but 'useless' and of 'no value' and just stop...! We will usually end up telling ourselves that "...life is actually going nowhere," and we just end up trying to create something that will 'entertain' us or make us 'feel' like we have some elusive 'purpose'! Purpose is not something that you create, it is what you dedicate your life to, that makes for meaningful existence.
Now , just a thought here... Life can become a drudgery, like a long flat road! And so many times we allow the 'straightness of the road' to dictate what we 'feel' instead of using the road to take us where we want to go!
From my perspective without 'a purpose' and 'a goal' and 'sacrificing your time and efforts for others...", life (like this long flat road) will waste away who you are, simply by living for yourself which in, 'car talk'...is understood as being shifted into 'neutral.' Yah, you got gas in your tank! You got power under your hood! You are shiny! You got great tires! You sound good when you get revved up! But if the 'trans' is in "N" you ain't going no where!
For all of the energy you expend and all the time you take making yourself look good and you just end up 'doing it' all for yourself so you can get noticed... your life is in 'Neutral!' Practically useless! Motionless, going no where... of no use to anyone but... yourself!
That is why folks get board! They are board with themselves! There is no challenge! Why challenge yourself when you see your self as complete and you need no one else because 'you are the best?' You know what you can do! Your self confidence is up there! Besides that... do you really think that you will push yourself to do better than you are presently doing since you are already 'there'?
Don't be kidding yourself! There is no variety in selfishness! There is no freshness in selfishness! There is no freedom to converse and or exchange any ideas if you are more concerned with yourself than others!
The selfish don't want to hear anything different other than what they already "know" or "feel" or "are doing!" But if you are all by your 'lonesome,' it won't be long when you will start to think... 'oh man, I need some stimulation, some excitement! Living like that, causes you to get board with yourself! Selfishness is a sterile breeder! It creates cotton candy existence and on the surface it lures you along into something that has no substance or reality that undures!
So, saying all of that, just reminds me that I have to know where I want to end up! I want to have purpose! I want to know the meaning of what has been sacrificed for me! I want to know as a response, that my sacrifice for others makes a difference! I need to count the costs of getting there! I have to know the way to go and the One to follow... in word and deed, in getting to where I need to end up! I need to remember that there are 'pot holes' along the way and obstacles that will block my path at times. I need to understand that 'persistence' is a quality that doesn't actually fit well with my being but that if I want to make it to the 'finish line,' I must wear that garment! Putting on 'persistence' will bring a motivation that will energize my being and keep my gaze focused in the right direction and fixed on the right point toward the goal! That goal is my High Calling!
In the old English It says.... "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path."
With my feet on the Ground!
Simply Trey
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