May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields and,
Until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
I am a traveling man.
My journey is never ending.
I travel towards the East,
The source of all light.
The source of all knowledge.
I am a traveling man.
I wander a winding road.
With many twists and turns.
I know not what lies ahead.
I find new truth with every step.
I am a traveling man.
On a path from whose bourn no traveler returns.
The final destination is not the goal.
The goal is the odyssey itself,
and what I learn with every new vista.
I am a traveling man.
It is the only thing I know for sure.
My insatiable curiosity,
and desire for knowledge
are my ever present companions on this trek.
Traveling.
Traveling.
Traveling.
Never weary
Never ending.
M.M.M.
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11 comments:
Is it me, or would that poem make a Great Johnny Cash song?
A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I were driving home (Maryland) from Savannah, GA. We stopped at a restaurant in South Carolina. When I was paying the bill, a couple of guys came up and asked if "I was travelling?" I blew it. I didn't respond, except with a grin and said, "Yeah we're driving home. . . blah, blah, blah." I didn't take my cue, and we parted without any meaningful dialogue.
There may not have been a meaningful dialogue, but who knows. Keep your mind and eyes open.
I know that feeling... I think the meaningfulness is always arbitrary, sometimes it is, sometimes not so much. But the experience is always a good lesson for next time.
Gingerman, I don't understand the cutesy stuff. Why don't they just ask if you're a Mason?
I have no idea why Masons think they should ask "Are you a travelling man?" Is there a Grand Lodge that actually tells people to say this as some kind of code?
Justa Mason
Justa, I like the traveling man stuff, your such a grump sometimes ;)
I can't however find any reason why it is used except that when masons were operative in Europe in the middle ages and were free to travel between building projects that is what they were called. Anyone else have any info?
MT, Was Johhny a Brother? It would have been a good Cash song.
To the best of my knowledge, he wasn't, but if he were I think he would of been a fine one, despite his human frailties.
As for the "traveling man" question. From some digging I've done, its only one of about 2 dozen questions that can be given. My guess is that it's just one way of approaching someone without showing their hand, especially when in mixed company or when in doubt.
Early on I used it when trying to parse out friends and brothers on MySpace.
Justa, I like the traveling man stuff, your such a grump sometimes ;)
Heh heh - 3M, Justa isn't a grump - he's just... pragmatic.
Personally, I can go either way. After having been asked a dozen times if I'm a "traveling man" or something similar, I've learned to cop to the joke. Usually I look at a guy's hand and say "I like your ring" (or bumper sticker, or decal, or golf shirt, or wherever the logo, er, S&C happens to be).
Obviously this doesn't work as well in the UK.
Tom, your such a non-conforming anti traditionalist :)
Probably the only reason I mention it is reading how playing silly verbal games got in the way of a good Masonic conversation.
A number of years ago, a new member of my Lodge was working on a movie set as a stand-in. A bunch of Masons also working on the film asked stuff about mothers, and little dogs and heading east and he hadn't a clue what they were talking about. Eventually, he explained to them he was a Mason, at which point they called him an imposter because he didn't know answers to any of the cryptic questions they asked. It all could have been avoided with the simple question "Are you a Mason?"
Justa Mason
Justa - that's exactly why I don't care for it.
However...
Part of an initiation is learning new things about the culture and background of your adopted organization. In the US, we have a section that says "In your leisure hours, you are to converse with your more well informed brethren who will always be as ready to give, as you shall be ready to receive instruction." The point here being that if you decided to knock on the door, then you have some responsibility to learn about the fraternity that you joined.
Some members really enjoy the "I'm in this sekret klub" thing, and to tell the truth, I sort of enjoy it - at times - myself. It's like being in on certain jokes, or seeing a "cult" movie and getting most of the references.
Or, it's like going to see "HHGTTG" at the theater and remembering to wear a bathrobe and bring a towel (something that hardly anybody else did in my town, much to the embarrassment of my daughter).
However, those guys, instead of calling your buddy an "impostor," should have taken him aside and explained the joke, er, references. Some of the PMs in my lodge did that a few months after I was raised, and I make a point of doing the same to the new guys.
Who would have guessed that a little poem would be so controversial?
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