Truth is an Atlas

perspective on our paths through life

I recently returned from a family reunion. While there were many moments that gave me pleasure and writing ideas…one, in particular, stood out. A grandfather was asked by a grandson about their drive from the east to the midwest. Having only seen it on the dashboard gps…he was interested in a bigger picture. The grandfather got an Atlas from the car and wonderfully, and patiently, explained the beginning, the route, and the path of the trip that would follow. This poem comes from that and is for Nate and Steve as a thanks for the spark.

Truth Is An Atlas

I was so focused on the tiny glowing map
on the dashboard of my car,
that I failed to see
the panoramic view…
I was heading
in the wrong direction…
to the wrong destination.

Life is like that…

Occasionally
we need to detach
from the detail…
from the urgency
of the next turn…
to realize
we’ve been faithfully following
a path
that was never meant to be ours.

Engagement through detachment…

The old saying was true…
we can’t see the forest
for the trees.

Sometimes…
we need the Atlas.

An opened map
spread across the coffee table…
its creases remembering
every place
it has ever been folded.

Showing
the beginning…
the destination…
and everything
between them.

The little screen
only offers
the next instruction.

The Atlas
invites
the whole journey.

It’s easy to get lost
in this modern day
of small screens…

In the glow
of what seems
so close…
so immediate…
so certain.

While the bigger picture
slides quietly by…
waiting
for our attention.

Wisdom
isn’t found
in looking smaller…

It begins
the moment
we look up.

The horizon
has always been speaking…

The mountains
never fit
inside a rectangle.

Neither does purpose.

There are roads
that never appear
on any screen…
because they aren’t discovered
by searching.

They reveal themselves
to those
who wander.

To those
who stop.

To those
willing to unfold
what is too large
to hold
in the palm of a hand.

Faith
is an Atlas…

Trusting
that the page
you cannot yet see
is already connected
to the one
beneath your feet.

And every so often…

We need
to pull over.

Turn off
the glowing voice
that tells us
what comes next…

Look up.

The screen
gives direction…

Truth is an Atlas.