Cody Keeps Walking

I saw something incredible today.

Normally I use the treadmill in the PE complex here at Western during my lunch break because the machines are open and few people come through at that time. Today, however, I spent my lunch break at the Welcome Fair, so I didn't exercise until mid-afternoon. As I entered the cardio room, a few people were working out, including a young man on the middle of three treadmills. I took the machine behind him and started walking. Despite the book in front of my nose, I couldn't help but notice the diligent effort of the man in front of me. He was walking faster and faster, so quickly that I was surprised he never broke into a jog. He leaned forward slightly, hands gripping the side rails and front rails of the machine. Unlike most people who come to the gym, he wasn't listening to an Ipod. He was walking, completely devoted to the task at hand. Purpose jounced every stride; I never saw him falter.

Eventually he slowed into cool down mood. I was immersed in my biology book and paid little attention to him until the machine stopped. Then he backed off the machine. I had never seen anyone do that before, and it puzzled me. Why would anyone back off, still handling the rails as he went? He turned toward the wall and I assumed he was going to stretch. But no. He reached out and took hold of something that I had overlooked before.

A cane.

I watched as he turned around and walked out of the room, rolling the ball-point end of the cane in front of him. Another girl called, "Good-bye, Cody." He replied and carefully felt his way out of the room, and, I assume, down the flights of stairs leading from the third level to the first. There is no elevator.

My book was forgotten. I never would have guessed he was blind.

How much courage does it take for him to do this? How far does he have to walk to get here? Has he ever fallen on those stairs? Has he ever flown off the treadmill ramp?

Honestly, it's humbling. Sometimes I think life's hard for me. I get frustrated, discouraged. I run out of time or energy. Something pushes me beyond my usual limits. I'm challenged more than I want to be. And what do I do? Sometimes I might face it with a good attitude, but many times I don't. Discouragment, grumbling, complaining, distress, anxiety - - they overtake and shake me. I falter, I fumble, I hesitate, I balk like a goat getting a bath.

And Cody keeps walking.

I wonder if God is warning me about something - - I wonder if He's hinting that my life is going to become challenging very soon. This week has been fairly easy so far with a day off of school and small amounts of homework. But I'm sure it won't always be that way.

And maybe He's humbling me, reminding me that no matter how much praise I receive in class for my writing, I am still weak in other ways. So many other ways. I am nothing; I have nothing of my own to be proud of. God's strength is what has brought me here, and it is God's strength that will carry me through.

There will be days when I feel as if I'm walking blind. God, what am I doing here? Nothing's going right. What do You want from me? I don't have the strength or courage to do this!

And Cody keeps walking.

Will I? When life wraps me in her errotic cadences that blind me to anything further than the next day, will I continue to follow God's direction? Even when I'm not quite sure where He's leading, and all I know is that the ground is rolling, rolling, rolling beneath my feet, and that I'm getting somewhere because He's leading me? Will I press on, head up, shoulders back, hands clasped to the Guidelines, eyes on the horizon that I can or cannot see?

Cody keeps walking.

Will I?