midnight

The man walked, head down, along the wall of the bay. He was bringing before God the events of the days previous and his uncertainties about the days to come. The dull drone of cars, trucks and motorbikes wafted across the water from the bridge across the bay, strangely calming in its constancy. Points of light painted the surface of the bay in broad shimmering swathes. There was movement on the water, and movement on the road, and as he moved along the wall he found his thoughts moved more freely also. Head down, or head up and looking around, he walked and he talked in the night.

Head down, he discovered he was not alone. On the wall before him, a tiny creature scurried along scared of him. A cockroach? There are many of those around... but it doesn't look like a cockroach, or at least like none he's ever seen. It turned off the wall and stopped on the grass, obligingly paused out of fear or elsewise, and so the man bent down to see it. What a curious creature... like a cockroach, but more like a large flat slater, with a translucent yellow segmented shell and legs of the same. He could almost see right through it. Crouched in fascination he stared for ages, no doubt raising the curiosity of the few passers-by. Then he left it in peace, straightened up and walked on.

One, two, three steps... "In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." The scripture came to his mind like an old friend arriving unannounced in a time of need, speaking directly to his concerns. When following God, oftentimes the road you choose will lead you to the unexpected, and oftentimes the road you are on will lead you where you would not have chosen to go, and yet it is the LORD who has determined the steps that brought you there. Upon closer inspection can be seen the intricacy, the amazing and unexpected beauty of the creative work of God. And so, pondering this, the man walked on in the semi-dark with a new perspective. To where? He didn't know, but he knew that the steps he would take would be wrought by God, and that was enough.