Radical Continuity: An Image
Last night I was driving to, and back from, San Diego - it's about a 75 mile drive one way. One thing you can count on when you head south on the I5 is traffic. If you don't have it in your direction it's coming at you. It was already dark and the stream of lights coming toward us seemed to be an endless ribbon that moved in a parallel but counter universe to my own.
As I watched I became aware that it was a good analogy for the spiritual journey and for the idea of radical continuity. So here you have it.
The journey we are on is longer than our individual excursions. I'm going 75 miles, the trucker might be going 1,500 miles, the teenager is just getting off at the second exit a mile from where they got on. The road is what is common between us. For a while, whether it is 1 mile or 1,000 miles, we share the same terrain. This is one of the bonds between human beings - the terrain we share. It is the landscape of physical geography, it is the ground covered in a lifetime, it can be the terrain of the heart, or work, or whatever. Humanity has a commonality that unites us. Everyone knows this, we often forget this. It is in itself a radical continuity. We can begin to think of ourselves so individualistically that we forget our connectedness.
The terrain of heart and place and journey are our touchstones with one another. It is something that is echoed in Paul's words/ideas about one part of the body saying to another, "I have no need of you." We're part of God's continuity.
Sometimes people join in our journey for a very brief moment, just a couple of exits. Sometimes people join in our journey for the long haul. I know when I'm on a long road trip I will find someone who drives at the speed I want to go and use them to pace myself.
What I'm learning in this time of radical discontinuity in my life is that those who join me in the journey are part of the radical continuity - the journey itself. They are part of it, because God has brought them into my lane. Once again, God is the one who holds all things together. None of this is arbitrary. I'm not saying it is all planned out either. But I believe that once you are "in the way of Jesus" Jesus gets in the way. Often in the form of people, companions, friends, colleagues....
Next time you see that stream of traffic, consider those who come alongside you for your journey and thank God.
I love what you have to say here. I truly believe that each one of us gets sent to the place that the Lord wants us to be.( our only challange is to let him lead us and not lead ourselves.) We are reflections of him here on this earth and like you say, companions in his journey. I guess we need to be aware of that at all times. Perhaps we will hear what he is asking us to do at each one of those intersections.
Thank you for your wise words of reminder.
Your friend, and journey companion,
Leanne
Posted by: Leanne | March 28, 2008 at 09:15 AM