The longer way around is sometimes the shortest way home.

This simple truth, better articulated in the Tao Te Ching, has served as a constant whisper of hope as I have found myself all too frequently lost in the circuitous path, seeking but not finding. I have explored, dabbled, and fallen - mired in the world's half-truths and misleading promises. Only when I realized the certainty of being lost did the glimmer of light begin to appear in the distance. Still I found myself many times moving perpendicular to the way, and again, the recognition of wandering astray was the only means of identifying the true path. The way is straight, the path is narrow. In my experience, though, it is also beautiful beyond expression, redemptive, seeped in care and mercy.