Finding the Way Home
The eNewsletter Archive

Below is the archived version of Marshall Hayden's eNewesletter "Finding the Way Home." If you would like to be added to to mailing list, please send a blank email to evangelism-subscribe@worthingtoncc.org.

You may also view our archived articles here.

May 2009

"The Joys of Route 23"

Every April and October we drive south on U.S. 23 (with a couple of short-cuts known only to regular travelers) to attend two days of meetings at our alma mater, Milligan College. Both are perfect months for the trip. In the fall the leaves are turning, and in the spring the red bud trees and dogwoods are bursting out. Almost always it is shirt-sleeve weather; and the natural air conditioning is usually sufficient. The rolling hills and winding four-lanes of Kentucky are striking and the roads lightly traveled. The little corner of Virginia, with small towns close to the new highway, sparkles at night. And the slower pace of east Tennessee is almost like a two-day vacation, even with the board meetings.

And the trip north from here on 23 takes us through college towns and county seats with stately old houses. When you get through Delaware it is no longer a busy road; and side trips in each direction offer visits to the past, new communities, small-town cafes, and fertile farm-land.

In a world stressed by swine flu, shrunken 401k plans, guns being fired at classmates by students and at coworkers by released employees, children being sexually pressured years before they are equipped to handle that – a world where home security systems are a hot item and corporate titans commit suicide or spend jail time – quiet travel up or down a nice road (where we really can’t see what happens behind the doors in the houses and businesses along the way) is an appealing prospect indeed.

But the best part of route 23 is closer than any of that. An important part of the body of Christ meets in a building at 8145 N. High Street every Sunday. It lifts praise to the creator of those fertile fields, beautiful vistas, families, and individual lives that are enjoyed and encountered along the way. It has a commitment to knowing and growing in the will of God, so that he is honored, his love displayed, and many people along the way blessed by those eager to live and do his will. It gathers, reinforces, renews, equips, and sends out members of a family who know that they are a long way from alone. Those who come together remind each other that even in a world contaminated by sin, with danger and decay encountered regularly, with people convinced, trained, and cheered on by Satan, who is very good at what he does, “greater is he that is in (us) than he who is in the world.”

When God planted a garden and created the first man and woman, after having put in place the heavens and the earth and all the other things, he said “it is very good.” And it can be. All along route 23 too. Even in this temporary place. Among those who spend their lives committed to “your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Then, after a while, it will get even better, much better.