I grew up in Chicago, about two miles west of Lake Michigan. Sometimes I would walk along the lakeshore on what we called “the rocks” (the concrete breakwater), but you could only go about a half a mile until the path came to a dead end at the inlet to Belmont Harbor. The only way to go any farther required me to walk around the harbor. I had to go back almost to where I had started. So I spent a lot of time going back over paths I had already traveled.

Reaching dead ends, going back the way you came, taking detours: does that sound like life in general? It may not be a bad thing. Sometimes what’s important in life isn’t reaching the destination but rather the journey itself. On his last night, Jesus tells his disciples that they know the place where he is going. Thomas objects that they don’t know where he is going. Jesus replies, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” He really doesn’t answer the question about the destination, only the way. He is the way.

The first chapter of John shows Jesus telling Philip “Follow me.” He doesn’t tell him where they are going or what it’s about, just follow me. That’s pretty much the invitation to us from Jesus, follow me. No explanations, no clear destination, just an invitation.

Having reached my “golden years,” it’s rather comforting to know that achieving all my goals is not what matters. It’s the journey with Jesus that counts.

Read John 14:1-7 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne