Joshua 1:9

I have made most of the mistakes.
Taken most of the wrong paths.
Wandered when I should have used maps.
Gotten lost more than a few times.
Fallen in love with the right and wrong people,
hung around when I should have left.
I am slow to make friends. And slow
to let them go when they became toxic.
I am slow to understand, slow to feel
and slow to let go of feelings
when the brain should be in charge.
Did I mention I wander a lot,
waiting for inspiration by doing without it
until it arrives? And it always arrives.
For that is the great promise of Gods everywhere,
and particularly mine.

About this poem

I was looking for something else this morning when I came on this picture. It it the flip side of a cross I wear every day. You can see it is a shield and on the flip side, there is a cross, simple, reminincent of a Templar’s cross, and on the side in the picture, this verse, Joshua 1:9.

The cross was given to me during a mission trip I took with Troutville Baptist Church, working in Appalachia. It was a hard time. My marriage had just come undone. I had moved out, feeling a failure and lost and depressed and without a sense of self. It was a dark time. But the mission trip was the beginning of my turn around. I was there with my daughter and it was a good time for us, a needed time. And then I got this cross. Just the verse I needed to hear and take to heart.

And like most great verses, it has proven true. Life has had a lot of ups and down since then, over 15 years ago, and I can not tell you the number of times I have pulled my cross out and read myself this verse.

And stumbling on it, I decided it needed a poem of its own.

Be well. Travel wisely,

Tom

PS: If you are reading this on a phone and the picture is unreadable, Joshua 1:9 says “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”