Have you ever drawn a map of your life? What would it look like? If you charted your path with footprints, would they leave a Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet kind of trail, perhaps circling the same tree or wandering into a dark wood for a while? Or would your footfalls leave large splashes and deep imprints where you strode?

Where would your map begin? Is the beginning your birth — the proverbial twinkle in your parents' eyes? Or would it go back generations to roots grown deep in the soil of a family, a culture, an ethnicity?

Would you climb mountains on your map? Wander in circles in the desert? Come to dead ends and retrace your steps? Build a home and settle down?

Would your map inspire the adventures of others? Would there be children? Students? Partners in your travels? Or would you see yourself essentially traveling alone? We come into this world alone and we leave it that way. Would your map show an essentially solitary journey?

What would you bring with you as you traveled? Would there be symbols of discovery and meaning you have gleaned along the way? How would you express them? Would faith or science or relationships tend to define you?

Would there be monsters on your path?

Would you need to acknowledge how some trauma had changed the direction of your life forever? Would there be death lurking in the shadows? Tragedies to survive, to assimilate into your being? Would they define you? Harden you? Make you stronger?

Would you reach a high plateau or a mountaintop and at some point sense that your vision had been expanded — that your life has meaning beyond the fragile footprints, however large, that you will leave behind?

What would your life look like if you drew a Life Map? Not all of us are artists, certainly, but imagine looking back on your life's adventures thus far. Where are you now? In a woods? A deep forest? A gentle valley? A high plateau? A mountaintop? A desert? A wild, wind-swept plain?

Do you see the path before you? Is it dark? Bright? Clear? Confused?

Has the journey been worth it? Are you proud of who you have become? Excited about the possibilities that lie ahead? Fearful? Uncertain? Ready? Not ready?

The next step on your path is now. Do you take it with intentionality? Uncertainty? Confidence? Wisdom? Strength? Love?

Do you feel alone? Do you sense the presence of a Higher Power? God? Your higher self?

Each of us is drawing a life map with every breath, every choice we make. Is your path now a gentle one, or hard? Do you feel prepared? Thankful? Inspired? Or overwhelmed and desperate? Needy?

I invite you to breathe into this moment, deeply. Again.

Rest in the arms of a love that surrounds and fills you with creative presence.

You are a child of the Universe, blessed and guided.

You may not see the way clearly, but it unfolds before you. Every step, every choice you have ever made, has brought you to this moment. And God knew the path you would follow and knew that in this moment you would be able to choose. And it would be good.

This is the day. This is the moment. With each breath you take, each footfall into the future of your life, know that you are loved. Choose the path that honors your very best, wherever you come from; be here, now.

Let it be so. Amen.

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Rev. Kristi Denham is pastor of the Congregational Church of Belmont, California (United Church of Christ). Her email address is {email RevKristi@aol.com}RevKristi@aol.com{/email}. © copyright 2007 by Kristi Denham.