I Am On My Way

"Where are you going?

I don't know

When will you get there?

I ain't certain

All that I know is I am on my way."

Paint Your Wagon was the most recent musical viewed in our house. This is one that we had in my house growing up that had been taped off TV but its fun to see now with all of the songs. Clint Eastwood singing...who knew? Anyway. Perhaps its the week, the day, or a reaction to the movie itself, but I've been thoughtful lately and that usually leads to random analogies. This one isn't very clear as I'm coming up with it as I'm writing so it's more just a thought about life. This movie is about Gold Rush California and actually one of the main storylines is about a Mormon with two wives comes into this town of only men and then auctions off one of the wives who later marries two men. Don't worry I didn't give it all away. It made me think about how you have to have money in order to live in America. You might be able to get by with homegrown fruits and vegetables, but our society isn't set up for self sufficient farming anymore.

Hmmm...I didn't really want to discuss that right now either.

Back to song lyrics because that's what started this in the first place. The opening song is the above lyrics followed by this:

"Got a dream boy

Got a song

Paint your wagon

and Come along"

Repeated multiple times in different languages and different accents. (Which means it kind of gets stuck in my head quickly). But it makes you think about where you're going and how you're getting there both physically and mentally (and spiritually). I feel this way a lot: All that I know is I am on my way. I often hope that I'm on my way in the right direction. But boy are there a lot of dips in the road. Another song in the movie is "A Wanderin' Star." Both of these songs talk about travelling and moving on. Have you ever had the desire to just wander? I don't do this often anymore, but I used to just drive for the sake of driving to see what I could find that I had never seen before. I enjoyed the lyrics to "A Wanderin' Star" as well so I'll pass that on.

"I was born under a wanderin' star

Wheels are made for rollin'

Mules are made to pack

I never seen a sight that didn't look better looking back

I was born under a wanderin' star

Mud can make you prisoner

And the plains can bake you dry

Snow can burn your eyes

But only people make you cry

Home is made for comin' from

For dreams of goin' to

Which with any luck will never come true..."

While I don't necessarily agree with Ben's view of life, it does make me think. Hopefully, the dreams of goin' home do come true and that its worth it every time it happens. And while its a beautiful thought to just travel and enjoy the world the Lord has made for us while not taking advantage of it and ruining it, I think I also need to focus on something else the Lord has given us: our family. Vacations and new directions in life are some of the things my siblings have been doing lately that made me think more about the wanderin' star and what its significance could be to me. No, I wasn't born under a wanderin' star, but I think every once in a while, the star at least passes over and makes me want to follow it for a brief moment. And while he uses "but only people make you cry" to be negative, I think that's a good thought. Yes, you might get emotional from the relationships you have with others, but if you don't have those relationships, will you truly feel the range of emotion we were blessed to feel, use, and control? Sometimes its wonderful to be able to cry over people for good and for bad and for sad. Its a blessing to know that you care so much for someone and there is someone out there who cares for you too.

Because it is late and I'm rambling, I'll stop, but I have been enjoying song lyrics lately and thought I'd pass these on.