Just Be Led

 

On a dusty road in the morning dawn,

A young man strode along,

His steps were wide, his gait was sure,

And on his lips a song.

He sang of the place many miles away

Where by the eve he would be,

And in his mind an image he drew

Of the place he wanted to see.

And so he walked and walked some more

And soon the sun drew high,

He wished for relief from the noonday heat,

From the great ball of fire in the sky.

Then rounding a bend, relief he saw,

In the form of a wooded glen.

and a stream that laughed through mossy rocks,

As if to invite him to come in.

The dusty road still loomed ahead,

And the sun still fiercely shown,

So he started down the shaded path,

His song a happier tone.

He traveled along for a mile or more,

Enjoying this pleasant new way,

Until the woods grew strangely dark,

And the trees began to sway.

He glanced about as shadows danced,

and the wind whipped to a gale,

and knew by himself, without any aid,

his mission was going to fail.

Then blindly, as he stumbled along,

An old rotten log he found,

So he sat to take a break from the wrath

The storm had brought all around.

But wait! What was that?

He stared out in the night,

And off in the distance, around a bend,

He saw a flickering light.

Sure enough, the light drew near,

and with it came into view,

a man old and worn, with long white hair,

and a hat tipped slightly askew.

He said not a word, but in his eyes

Kindness and care could be seen,

And he motioned to the man on the log,

To leave this desolate scene.

The young man wondered where they would go,

If the edge of the woods they could find,

But he followed as close to the lamp as he could,

And stayed just one step behind.

Then after what seemed like an endless time,

But was just an hour or two,

The storm began to break apart

And the sun began to beam through.

“What can I do?” the young man said,

“To repay what you did for me,

I was so very lost back there,

And nothing I could see.”

The old man smiled, and waved his hand,

“You followed,” is what he said,

“And that’s the most important thing,

Just to let yourself be led.”