HOW A ROUTE DIFFERS FROM A ROAD... IN THE FOLLOWING OF JESUS

NOT A ROUTE… BUT A ROAD

 “A route differs from a road not only because it is solely intended for vehicles, but also because it is merely a line that connects one point with another. A route has no meaning in itself; its meaning derives entirely from the two points that it connects. A road is a tribute to space. Every stretch of road has meaning in itself and invites us to stop. A route is the triumphant devaluation of space, which thanks to it has been reduced to a mere obstacle to human movement and a waste of time.”

 - from Immortality by Milan Kundera

I was taken with this quotation when Juliana McNeice pointed it out to me in the early 90s. It stuck with me. I then travelled across South Africa and found that the rural folk there took this seriously. You would never take a route somewhere. The quickest way might cause you to miss someone or something. Roads are for travelling and learning and maturing and experiencing. 

The difference is a strong challenge to our stressed out schedule keeping world where we spend our life on routes and short cuts. We have motorways (UK) or Routes (USA) to get there as quick as we can. Scenic back roads are not so popular. We miss the wonder of life.

The Kundera quotation came back to me one night in a BBC radio studio. I was interviewing songwriter Ricky Ross of Deacon Blue for the Rhythm and Soul show I hosted at the time. He had his brand new record Pale Rider with him and told me I would like the track Calvary and that it was about Christmas! Ricky went on to explain that when he was growing up he noticed in his Church that as soon as Jesus was born they had him on the cross. 

Immediately I unpacked this thought, and therefore the song, as teaching us that we should have Jesus on a road and not a route. If we have Jesus on a route to the cross then we miss the road of his teaching and life. The destination therefore becomes meaningless as we have no idea what to do when we have gotten there!

My take on it is that we need to follow Jesus as he invited his disciples to do. As we follow down the roads of Galilee, Samaria and Jerusalem we can pick up all his insights. Like fruit off a tree we should put them in the baskets of our souls and then follow Jesus through the cross… then through the resurrection… to live the fruit of his ministry on the other side of that. 

NOT A ROUTE… BUT A ROAD?

Not a route to

Too fast, too functional, too distracting

But a road through 

Slow to pay attention for impacting

Not a route to

Too easy too brief too matter of fact

But a road through

Taking in all that we’d need to act

Not a route to

Too cold, too instant, to get it done

But a road through

 

From Bethlehem to Calvary

It was never meant to be a quick route to

But a following, 

Gathering all the things we’d need

A road that would take us right on through…

NOT A ROUTE… BUT A ROAD is from Steve Stockman’s poetry book REFLECTIONS, POEMS AND BENEDICTIONS which will be launched in Fitzroy Presbyterian Church Belfast on May 31st 2015 at 7pm. All welcome. Soon available on Ebooks!