One would think I'd have the sense to pay special attention to the many different turns I had to choose from. After all, the trail was lined with head-high brush, so there was absolutely no hope of just looking above the horizon to see my destination.
All that was missing was a stinking swamp, gruesome goblins, and David Bowie in those awesomely awkward pants.
Don't lie. If you've seen the movie Labyrinth from the 1980's, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Ew.
I had decided I wanted to hike for about an hour, so when the first half hour had passed, I turned around. Simple math, right? Thirty minutes there + thirty minutes back = one hour long hike. But somehow amongst the twisty turning trails, I found myself completely lost. And when I say completely... well, I mean completely.
The second I realized I had fallen astray, the panic set in. The absolute beauty and wonder of the scenery around me suddenly became my solitude; my cell. I felt imprisoned and desperately wanted to find my feet back on the right path... I'm not sure what set off that alarm inside me. Maybe it was a survival sense, or maybe it was just me being a big baby. But the alarm... the alarm did sound. I didn't have to miss a meal or be attacked by a mountain lion. I didn't need to be caught in a terrible storm or even just wander around in the wilderness for a few hours. All it took was a wrong turn or two for the alarm to go off. That's all in took.
Needless to say, my one hour hike lasted about two hours. As trivial as that might be, it got me thinking about becoming lost. How do we lose our way and stray so far from the Path? Not the path, but the Path? How is it that the first wrong turn we take on a hike or while driving to a new restaurant the alarm instantly goes off, yet we can wander so far from God without really even realizing it until we're at rock bottom?
So the thoughts continue. I'm reflecting, introspecting, and all those other fun verbs that bridge together the worlds of spirituality and psychology. Maybe my internal (eternal) alarm does sound the second I step out from God's will; maybe I've just gotten really good at ignoring it, or maybe I've even deactivated it somewhere along the line.
Either way, I'm dropping bread crumbs; I don't want to lose my way. I'm watching close and setting my alarm to heightened sensitivity. The very moment I step off the Right Path, I want that alarm to sound.
I want to panic. Panic like I just walked into David Bowie from The Labyrinth... Ew.
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