A white van was sticking out into traffic on a recent evening, as my wife and I were driving home. It was stuck in the snow and ice. The cars ahead of us slowed and stopped, then took turns with the vehicles coming from the other direction, to get around the van that was blocking our lane. We could see the wheels spinning, as the driver tried to go forward with no success, and backward, with the same result. Within minutes, two other drivers pulled off to the side and came to help the one who was stuck. The next morning, on the way into work along a different route, we could see many areas that were still treacherously covered with ice and snow. People who were calling into a morning radio program were expressing their dissatisfaction. If Christian life can be described as a journey, I thought, here are some good examples of what can happen along the way. First of all, it is obvious that no one can make a life’s journey alone. On good days, maybe, but not always. With four inches of snow and ice covering our part of the earth, it is necessary for someone else to prepare the way. Under some conditions, it is hard to find the road, or to stay on it, unless someone else has driven ahead to mark the way. It is also obvious that no matter how well or how poorly the way has been prepared, each traveler must still take responsibility to exercise caution. And each of us, as difficult as it may be, is responsible for our own driveway. One of the mistakes a traveler can make is stopping in the wrong place. Some difficulties can be overcome only by continued forward motion. A person on this journey can make a mistake – and if that happens, help is needed to put the mistaken one back on the right path. The willingness to let another get ahead, taking turns to allow everyone to reach the destination, is a virtue. Helping a stranded traveler is an act of charity. Helping to bring about a change in snow-clearing practices – not just complaining about them – might be considered an act of justice, if such changes bring fair treatment for all travelers.
* * * Our Scriptures are rich with the details of the journey made by people of faith. Joseph and Mary travel to Bethlehem, to Egypt, to the Temple. In Luke’s Gospel, Chapter 17, Jesus is traveling through Samaria and Galilee on his journey to Jerusalem. He meets 10 lepers and tells them to travel to the priests, “and as they were going they were cleansed.” Jesus reminds his listeners that there are times to move ahead without looking back, and reminds them to remember the wife of Lot, who stopped to look back and was turned into a pillar of salt. There are times when “a person who is on the housetop and whose belongings are in the house must not go down to get them, and likewise a person in the field must not return to what was left behind.” John prepared the way for Jesus, and Jesus took the path, the way of the cross, that led to our salvation.
* * * Take the time to reflect on the ordinary journeys of life. Who prepared the way for you? Who depends on you to prepare a path for them? When have you been caught sideways, unable to move ahead or back? Who avoided you? Who helped you? When have you noticed obstacles to your own travels or the travels of others? What have you done about them? Lent may be a time of reflection, but it is no time to stop our forward progress toward the ultimate goal of all life. Our cleansing will happen along the way.
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