travel

For some reason recently several different people have said things to me about travel – the sort of thing that could easily be a meme. If they hadn’t said them in person I would have assumed that my phone had been listening to me or checking out my social media scrolling and the algorithm was feeding them to me. I can’t actually remember who said these in order to attribute most of them, but here they are (or my recollection of them):

‘It’s not the journey or the destination that matters, but who travels with you.’

‘A walk in nature feeds my soul.’

‘If you don’t know where you’re going, how do you know when you’ve got there?’

‘A small path that leads off an established track is called a desire path’ (Susie Dent on a radio programme)

‘In 100 yards turn left.’ (My satnav).

I have reflected on these ‘truths’…

‘It’s not the journey or the destination that matters, but who travels with you.’

This is all very well, but you may not get to where you need to be if you only focus on your companions. (Spoiler alert) Frodo would not have got the ring into the fires of Mount Doom if he’d just enjoyed being with his companions.

‘A walk in nature feeds my soul.’

I agree, but it’s not the only way to feed your soul. What about music, poetry, prayer, the Bible, bloggages…

‘If you don’t know where you’re going, how do you know when you’ve got there?‘

Yes, but someone had to be first in exploring unexplored places and often they didn’t know where they were going or what they would find when they got there.

‘A small path that leads off an established track is called a desire path’ (Susie Dent on a radio programme)

The desire path is created by people desiring to walk that way – perhaps taking a shortcut or wanting to see something along the way. But gardeners don’t like you wearing a path across their lawn.

‘In 100 yards turn left.’ (My satnav).

This is not always a good idea as my satnav doesn’t seem to understand that while there is a national speed limit along Devon country lanes you can’t actually travel at that speed because you can’t see the tractor coming the other way, hidden by the hedge and the blind corner.

These seemingly profound truths can be qualified. What appears to be wise, can also be shown to be silly. So what are we supposed to do? My Dad taught me to sail and said that to keep going straight you should choose a point on the distant horizon and keep the boat pointed in that direction. If you choose something close to you you’ll have to keep adjusting to new objects and will have a wiggly path.

I believe there are. The metaphor of life as a travel adventure is a well-worn path (see what I did there?). It is attractive because we move through life in one direction (no, not the band) – we can’t go backwards in time. There is a perception of motion, as there is in travel. And there are landmarks through our life, just as there are when we travel – moments and people that are more significant to us than others.

And Jesus offered travel metaphors too: for example he invited people to follow him (literally of course, but also metaphorically); he sent his followers out on journeys; and the last thing Matthew and Mark record him saying included the word ‘Go…’ (again literal and metaphorical, I believe). And most famously, “I am the way, the truth and the life…”

We all have to find our own fixed points by which to navigate life. Who or what are yours?

Be blessed, be a blessing