Who Are You Going With?
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Dear Friends,
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A few weeks ago, I had the joy of attending my 50th class reunion from Bacon Academy in Colchester, CT. I had a great time catching up with the kids I spent so much time with in my school days. No longer the young starry-eyed children from our youth, we shared stories of our lives beyond high school with one another. Playing in the background was our class theme song from the movie, Mahogany, starring Diana Ross. The song asks the question, "Do you know where you are going to?" That was the prominent question on our minds in 1976.
In the days following the reunion, that song kept coming back to me. Many of us had big dreams as we left high school behind. Some were headed for college. Others were looking to start families, or to launch their vocational pursuits. Everyone had an idea of what the pursuit of happiness would look like. We all thought we knew where we were going. It's funny though, as we talked at the reunion, many described the paths that led them to where they ended up. For most of us, it was to a place that we never dreamed of.
I was reminded of a story told by Rev. Billy Graham a few years ago. Dr. Albert Einstein, the eminent physicist, was traveling from Princeton on a train. When the conductor came down the aisle Dr. Einstein reached into his vest pocket for his ticket. He couldn't find it. He reached into his pants pocket but it wasn't there either. He flipped open his briefcase. He could not find it. He stood up, looked in his seat thinking it might have fallen out of his pocket. No luck there as well.
The conductor said, "Dr. Einstein, I know who you are. I am sure you bought a ticket. Don't worry about it." Einstein nodded appreciatively. The conductor continued down the aisle punching tickets. As he was ready to move to the next car, the conductor turned around and saw the physicist down on his hands and knees looking under his seat for his ticket. The conductor rushed back and said, "Dr. Einstein, Dr. Einstein, don't worry. I know who you are. There's no problem. You don't need the ticket."
Einstein looked at him and said, "Young man, I too know who I am. What I don't know… is where I am going!" As I was thinking about our graduation day, I realized that we didn't have a ticket back then that told us what our final destination was going to be. We had to make life choices. We had to move forward. Sometimes it came one step at a time. Sometimes we took two steps back to move three steps forward. For most of us it was not a straight line. There were detours and unexpected side trips. But that's life.
Life is a journey. Maybe the question is not so much, do you know where you are going, but rather do you know who you are going with? The key to a good life is choosing who you will travel with. Good friends are always a plus. Choosing people who you can trust, who you enjoy spending time with, people whom you can depend on, make all the difference in the world. But there is one friend who supersedes them all. We call Him, God.
I learned that the saying, "Go with God!" or in Spanish, "Vaya con Dios!" was more than a platitude. It was meant to be a way of life. You see, God is not a divine GPS dictating every move, but a loving companion walking side by side with us. With God, we’re invited to journey together, with his gentle nudges encouraging us to discern the best paths for our lives, while still allowing us to make our own choices. He is patient and kind. God is the definition of love and He will guide us to a place where we can blossom and grow.
We read in Jeremiah 29, "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Life can be difficult. But God promised to be with us. He is the Good Shepherd. When we travel with the Lord, our hope will be realized. We may not end up where we thought we'd be, but we will most certainly find ourselves where we were meant to be. So, when you set off for the great unknown, “Go with God” and you won’t be disappointed!
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God bless! See you in church.
​Pastor Cal