Roads are pretty spiritual things.

I like maps and roads. Sometimes, I just want to get on a road and drive it to see where it ends up – especially US Highways or Interstates. I mean, just stand on an Interstate and think that it will go past a variety of landforms and through many states and regions. Okay, that isn’t literal. Please don’t stand in the middle of an Interstate. Most states allow 70 MPH on the roads.

Maybe it’s a sense of adventure or maybe there’s something deep inside us that loves the idea of journeys, (I can’t believe I’m admitting that) because, yes, roads have a spiritual application. The Bible mentions roads and paths. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”  “Teach these things to your children when you … walk by the way.”*

That’s what’s so special about Christmas. We’re reminded that God looked down at humans lost in sin trying to work their way to heaven and said, “You can’t get here from there.”

So, he sent “The Way.” And the Way spent his first couple months traveling. Before He was even born, his mother visited her cousin Elizabeth, and then traveled to Bethlehem to be born, and then after he was born, he escaped to Egypt and returned to Nazareth. When he reached the age 33, he was on the road again.

Jesus trod the dusty streets of Galilee spreading the news about the single path to God, carried the cross up the Via Dolorosa to Calvary to die for our sins, and asks us to pick up our cross and follow him on the narrow way of salvation to the streets of gold.

Looking forward to traveling those roads one day. Until then, it’s time for the Church’s yearly road trip to the manger of Bethlehem to pay homage to the Way, Truth, and Life.

Who’s bringing the snacks?

*My own paraphrases of Ps. 119:105, Deut 6:7