I am the product of all of the choices I have made in my life. I am confident that everyone reading this post can agree with that statement, however, over the past several years, I have grown to fully understand that those choices I have made, the paths I have selected, the jobs and positions I have served in, all of them, have led me to exactly where I am today. Most of those choices have turned out to be excellent ones. My choice of a wife, without a doubt, was the best decision I have ever made. My choice of occupation, while made very early in my life, has also proven to be a very wise one. Taking the job that eventually led me to my current residence, also very fortunate. Yes, there have also been some very poor choices, which I do not intend to relate here, but suffice it to say, those poor options have been relatively few and none of them have proven “fatal,” at least not yet.
People have often told me that there must be someone looking out for me, or, that I have been just “plain lucky.” I always laugh and smile a very knowing smile, because, you see, I know better. It has not been luck that has pushed and pulled me down the paths I have selected; rather, I firmly believe it is a higher power who has guided me every step of the way. God has been there to help me choose. How do I know that? Because I have prayed to him for guidance and wisdom, for every choice I have made for almost all of my life. And He has never let me down… Not even once.
Of course, His answer has often been “No,” and sometimes, “Not yet.” I have also heard “Not for you,” and even, sometimes, just plain silence. However, for each and every major decision in my life, I have been guided to where I should go, what I should be doing and even how I should be doing it. I have never been alone, even when I truly have been all by myself. In strange and sometimes unwelcoming places, in situations that might have even been a bit dangerous. I could always count on Him. He has been by my side.
I know He has been there and answered my prayers, not simply because I am where I am today, but also in looking back on where I might have been if I had made those decisions all by myself. I could have chosen another woman to be my wife. I might have selected a different profession. I might not have taken that job offer, which almost everyone I knew said it was a really bad decision. All of these major decisions, left to my own volition, most likely would have been the wrong ones. I simply could not have made so many good choices all by myself. I had to have help and I did. He was with me and He also sent me the best confidant of all, my wife, Kathy. She has also helped guide me to the right path. All you need to know about her is in my book; “Words for my Children.” I would not be writing these words today without her. I certainly would not be the person I am today without her.
I have come to realize, over the years, that God also provides little signs along the way, to let us know we are on the proper path. Certain words, songs, people and events will appear to tell us that yes, He is there and I am heading in the right direction. The latest example happened just the other day. Here is what happened:
Kathy was chosen to sing the National Anthem at the swearing-in of one of our friends, to become a Federal Judge. Obviously, this was a huge event and the invitees included both of our Senators, the Bishop, pretty much every judge in our region, the DA and way too many lawyers to count. To say the least, Kathy was a bit nervous, although I knew that her voice and talent were certain to carry the day. She had performed our National Anthem on many occasions and had once even sang the Canadian National Anthem along with our own. (We grew up in Buffalo, New York and both anthems were frequently played before sporting events in western New York.) She has talent and she would come through.
As we entered and the crowd was gathering, we took our assigned seats, where a placard was placed, imprinted with our names, to reserve those seats for us, since the courtroom was packed. I glanced at the placard resting on the seat directly to the right of my wife. It read, “Stephen Kennedy.” My wife’s maiden name is Kennedy. Her father, George, who passed over a decade ago, would have been so proud to hear her perform our National Anthem. George had served as a policeman and had been in courts, just like this, hundreds of times during his career. Many of his friends and relatives had been lawyers, district attorneys and judges. Our daughter’s godfather is also a judge and a life-long friend. How, with all of the hundreds of available and assigned seats in that courtroom, had Kathy been seated right next to the one person named Kennedy? I whispered in her ear, ” Your father is right next to you, take a look at the name on the seat.” She looked, she smiled and then sang one of the best renditions of the Star Spangled Banner that you have ever heard. As she returned to her seat, the “Kennedy” seated next to her leaned over and said, “Great Job.” I could feel His presence and I knew that her father was right there, as well.
In my book, I mention that one of my favorite poets is Robert Frost. I have quoted him often and have taken his poem, “The Road Less Traveled,”to heart. The poem refers to a life where the road less taken is the one he has selected. I, too, have frequently taken the path that is less worn, less used, less traveled. I have meandered past swamps, complete with snarling beasts, I have picked the road that is not only overgrown with weeds, but also, seemingly endless. I have raced down “highways” that are little more than dirt roads. And yet, I have always known that I have never really been all alone. A higher power has been there with me, helping me choose that pot-holed, often unsavory path, and each and every time, it has been the right choice for me. My path. The less-traveled one.
Now, as I find myself very much closer to the end of that path than where I began; as I enter upon what very well may be the final turn in that long and winding road, I look back at the steps I have taken, the journey and places that I have seen across all of those years and realize, that while I have been looking forward, He has been looking down on me; nudging me here and there, prodding me now and again, sprinkling tiny clues along the way, all the while, never once leaving my side. I have chosen those paths not by myself, but rather,along with Him right by my side. As Frost writes at the end of his poem, choosing that path less traveled has made all the difference. Yes, indeed it has.