The Road goes ever on and on down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road is gone, and I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet, until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet. And whither then? I cannot say.[1]
Two years ago I returned from a summer internship and this poem described my final sentiments. Now I stand poised to make a similar journey to the same historic land but how incredibly my Road has changed. A college graduate, a married man, four very different jobs, and a only few steps further along in the path God has laid before my feet. Much has changed, yet much remains the same. The eager feet I wrote of upon my last return still burn to be out on the road. Though I know for a while the pathway lies stateside, the earnest will not go away. When shall it meet that "larger way", whither then I cannot say. But we are filled with great joy and hope for these next few months of our journey together.
I wonder though, what path is before your feet? Are you presently in the way and pursuing it eagerly or is it that you have set up camp for a while on the roadside? Are you pressing along as a foreigner and stranger in this world or as one who has forgotten about the homeland they journey to? I read just this morning,
"They were stangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But, as it is, they desire a better country, that is a heavenly one."
Everytime I leave my earthly home for another place I am reminded once again that it is not really a "home" at all. Pilgrims, strangers, exiles on the road to the eternal country have no true home but that one they pursue. All their affections, desires, and aims point to their place of destination and no stop along the way will satisfy them. No matter how cozy the inn or how comfortable the shade on the roadside, these are pale and cheap immitations of our home.
Let us do the work of stirring each other up along the way that each may pursue the path God has laid before them and thus not waste ours lives daydreaming in this world!
Now, let the journey begin... (June 2, 2008)
[1] Tolkein, J.R.R. The Lord of the Rings. Houghton: New York, NY. 1987. (p.35).