Eyes Down, Eyes Ahead.

I've been doing more trail running recently. Running through the forest along rocky trails lined with roots and stumps is definitely harder than running on paved roads. But the payoff is time spent in nature, sometimes alone, amidst God's creation. Sometimes, if your heart and mind are open, you may even get to encounter Him. There's something about removing the distraction of cars and other people to put you in a place where you can see things more clearly.

But you can't let your mind wander to far afield, or you risk stumbling, or often in my case, falling down. You have to be vigilant about where your next step will be to avoid the rocks and roots along the path. But you also cannot be so focused on your next step that you lose sight of the trail ahead. You need to be aware of the twists and turns. You need to know which path leads where. You need to know which trail leads you home and which leads you astray.

Our daily lives are much the same. We need to be careful on the path we take. We need to be on solid footing to avoid missteps and tumbles. There are rocks and roots in all of our ways. We need not let them cause us to stumble or -- even worse -- not to run the trail at all. But we must also not lose sight of where we are headed. We must know the way we are going and follow the correct path, or we will surely get lost.