“Clearing the road.” That is one of the many Biblical images during the Christmas season. The Gospel of Mark tells us that John the Baptist did that for Jesus.

The gallery of my life is full of portraits of people who have cleared the road for me. One person came to mind recently. His impact was brief but profound. The summer before my senior year in high school, my family moved to a new town. What a lousy time to move! I left behind my friendships from junior high and high school of East Texas to move to what seemed like the end of the earth, Olney, Texas. I thought my life was over.

I was angry, sad, and lonely for the first part of that summer. Sometime during that time, a local rancher, Ray Davis, invited me to come and work for him for a couple of weeks. He needed help rounding up cattle to take to market. I had never done anything like that, but I was willing to try anything.

He told me what we were going to do, gave me some basic instructions, handed me my first cowboy hat, and for two weeks I bumped around with him in his pickup pulling the stock trailer, I rode his horse Popcorn, and he and I rounded up a few cattle at a time, got them in the pen and then the trailer, and took them to market. It was a wonderful experience for a kid who was angry and lonely. In the middle of all that we celebrated our birthdays. He turned 70 on the same day I turned 17.

ray davisIt took me many years to recognize what a gift Ray gave me. Not only did my life not end that summer, but that totally new experience with him helped prepare me for a year full of new experiences. That year, though difficult in many ways, was pivotal for everything that has transpired since then.

I left for college the next year and rarely saw Ray after that. He died just a few years later. I regret I didn’t tell him how important that time with him had been. Ray helped clear the road for me. I’m sure that was not his intention, but it certainly was the result for me.