Lucy and Brian set out on a journey – just a journey, but what a journey it would be! They had heard many sayings about life, like:
‘When you have completed 95% of your journey, you are only half way there.’ Japanese proverb
‘Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home.’ Matsuo Basho
And especially this one from we don’t know who:
‘Too often we are so preoccupied with the destination that we forget the journey.’
This so affected them that, in order to make the most of the journey, they decided not to have a destination. So off they went with no idea where they were going.
“Which way shall we go? Lucy asked Brian.
“We have no destination to give us direction so I think it really doesn’t matter.” Brian answered.
“Then let’s go this way.” said Lucy, pointing to a path that was flat to downhill and quite smooth. They both liked the look of it and set off enjoying the scenery and the flowers that grew beside the way.
“I like to stop to smell the roses.” said Brian, leaning over for another whiff as Lucy took her umpteenth photo.
“And since the journey is the thing, it doesn’t matter how long it takes.” Lucy responded.
After a few bends and curves and much magnificant scenery, the path straightened out and became very level – along with the general terrain – and for many days the scenery never changed. There was food and water and somewhere to sleep each night but the same people and it seemed like the same place, as if they were going around in a circle each day back to the same lodging.
Often Lucy and Brian would see an attractive-looking place in the distance but they were never sure if it was worth travelling to or if it was just a mirage. They didn’t talk much any more as there didn’t seem to be much to talk about, just the same old things day after day. Sometimes they would discuss whether perhaps what they saw in the distance was real and sometimes they even considered going separate ways but always they ended up saying, “It’s just a mirage,” and kept on their journey.
One day they were walking along not really thinking about anything – because what was there to think about anyway? – when they suddenly stopped in their tracks. They had to stop because the track stopped – there was no more. From under their toes the ground fell away in a cascade of rough country – rocks large and small covered in vegetation that seemed at first sight to be inpenetrable. All this as far as the eye could see. There seemed to be hills of some kind in the distance but what lay between was a great unknown.
As Lucy and Brian looked more closely they began to make out a path, not quite completely overgrown, heading down to the left between a couple of boulders and out of sight in the trees. They figured that following this path would take some considerable physical effort and mental skill but, they reasoned, wasn’t that what the journey was about? So they pushed forward into their adventure.
Hours later, scratched and bruised, they rested a moment and Brian wryly observed that they weren’t “beating about the bush”. But he didn’t want the bush to beat them. As they pushed on the vegetation thinned somewhat and they could see that they were crossing a rather steep, rough slope high above a raging river.
Soon the track began to trend upward. The corners were tighter which hid the increasing steepness, roughness and difficulty. They encountered very difficult places and people who threatened to end their journey or divert them to another way. They stayed on their path because they didn’t believe there was an easier way in this rough country and they just didn’t trust any of their advisors.
So on they went. It wasn’t easy but they persevered. Then they heard a sound, looked towards it and saw the fearsome thing that was about to end their journey completely. A huge rockslide was pouring down the hill and about to engulf them. They looked for somewhere to hide but they were exposed on a bare hillside. Just at that moment a man appeared in front of them and said “Quick! Follow me!” Lucy and Brian didn’t hesitate.They were right on the man’s heels as he rounded a rock and dived into the hilllside. They went into the cave a few metres and sat down, breathing heavily. They waited in the dark while the deafening roar and heavy vibration of tumbling rock pounded above them – or through them, as Lucy later recalled.
The roar finally ebbed into the distance below and everything became silent as light began to filter in from the entrance to their cave sanctuary. “That’s the most beautiful silence I’ve ever heard,” whispered Lucy. “Or not heard,” added Brian as they looked around to see who had saved them. He was still sitting beside them and he was smiling.
They were curious as to the identity of their saviour and how he was able to be at the right place at the right time. He explained that he had been with them from before their journey started, had walked with them the whole way, had enabled them to find the path when it wasn’t clear. He asked if he might accompany them the rest of the way.
Lucy and Brian were glad of the company of one who could keep them safe and who seemed to have their best interests at heart. And the three travelled together from there on. They talked much on the way and the two were amazed at the knowledge and insight of their new companion.
It turned out he was the one who had made the world they inhabited and even themselves, who guided each inhabitant, who loved his creation and gave each one a destination and a purpose. Lucy and Brian found their journey much more meaningful while they walked with their creator than it had been before and they decided that it wasn’t so much that their journey was its own destination but rather that their creator-companion gave purpose to their journey and made everyting about it fulfilling.
Now, as well as enjoying the scenery, smelling the roses and taking photos, Lucy and Brian enjoyed the company of their guide and of other people whose paths they crossed and those who walked along with them. They were able to encourage these people, help them and be helped by them. They told their story of how they’d nearly got lost on the boring plain. How they’d nearly been wiped out on the hillside and how their guide had protected them from certain death. How enjoyable the subsequent journey had been because they were journeying with their creator who knows everything about everything and is a great friend because he loves life and enjoys his friends so much.
Some more quotes:
‘The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination.’ Don Williams Jr.
‘Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity, but in doing it.’ Greg Anderson
‘Success is not a place at which one arrives, but rather the spirit with which one undertakes and continues the journey.’ Alex Noble
‘A journey is best measured in friends rather than miles.’ Tim Cahill
[This is a story I wrote in the days leading up to telling it in church on November 11th.]