From the Pastor's Pen, July, 2005:

From the Pastor's Pen, October, 2007:

“Follow That Road”

As I was thinking of the “back to school” time of year, a particular The other day I was driving over to the Eastwood Town Centre, and found myself in the mess of construction on Lake Lansing Road. The particular spot where the work was going on required a detour--which made me just as glad, because the lane I was driving on was very close to a deep hole the workers and machinery were digging. The signs pointed in behind some industrial kinds of buildings, which I’d only driven past and not really noticed before. It was apparent, though, that the road had been specially built just for the purpose of this detour. The asphalt was new and smooth, if not very thick, and wound through the back sides of those industrial buildings, until we could come back out onto Lake Lansing. We might complain about construction—there’s sure a lot of it in Lansing right now!—but the hope is for better things, improvement, and easier access to places we want to go. We’re inconvenienced for a while, but the hoped-for outcome is something much better.

You know by now about me that the idea of “journey” is a central metaphor for me for the life of faith. The idea of journey is so rich with images, with things we can connect with, with similarities to our life stories that we can relate well to it. Even when there’s a detour!

One of our family’s favorite musicians is singer/songwriter Anne Hills. Every time I’ve heard her perform, and the countless times I’ve listened to her CD’s, I’ve been captivated by a song she wrote called “Follow That Road.” She introduced the song once in a concert by saying she had written it during a songwriting workshop, where the discussion had been about the idea “you can write a song about anything.” Someone made the challenge, “what about directions to a house in the country?” Everyone in the workshop laughed, but Anne set to work writing a song that is about so much more than directions to a house in the country. One of the verses goes like this:

“If you’re drivin’ by in autumn, you should follow up the river
to Bear Lake.

That’s the time to see the colors, there’s an old covered bridge
you’ll want to take.

Late at night be careful, just be sure to watch for deer out
on the road,

And if it’s early in the morning, sometimes it gets foggy,
take it slow . . .

But follow that road

Sugar maples far as you can see

Follow that road

Back through time, back through distance, back to me.”

Even though reading just one verse doesn’t do justice to the whole song, which sometimes brings tears to my eyes even when I hear the first few guitar chords, you get the idea what a rich and evocative song it is. AND I think it has more to say than just driving directions. It brings up a relationship, a longing for one who is missed, and a kind of homesickness, not so much for a lost time and place, but for restoration and wholeness. In a later verse, Anne sings:

“You must know how much I miss you,
and that any way you get here is alright.”

(Anne Hills, 1994, on “Angle of the Light,” Flying Fish Records)

Perhaps one of the many reasons I like that song so much is that I can hear it on many levels. One of those is the notion that it is God calling to us, inviting us into loving relationship with God. God longs for us, beyond even human longing, to be in relationship. The roads may be as different for us as the many ways we can drive home from our different destinations. There may be detours along the way. The changing seasons in nature or in our life circumstances may force us to take another path for a while. But the path leads to God. “Any way you get here is alright.”

In our gathered community at First United Methodist Church, we give thanks for the Journey, for the many ways people come to experience God’s love and grace. We have begun our new program year, with many offerings of Christian education for all ages, which were lined out in last month’s “jumbo edition” of First Inklings. We offer excellence in worship and music programs. Social and community events, like our annual Sauerkraut Supper, offer many opportunities to gather. There is a place for you at First UMC, and more important, there is a place for you in God’s love.

Fall is in the air, and the turning of the season reminds us of turnings and changes in our lives. Wherever we are on the Journey, detours and all, God is with us. It’s a Journey to God. May we share the Journey, may we live in God’s love, and as we grow in grace and the understanding of God’s love, may we offer it to others.

On the Journey with you,

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