The Path of Life

On the path of life, the search for the right road is always a struggle, but when that right road is finally discovered it brings about a new set of challenges. This road of truth and life is sometimes slightly bumpy. There are potholes and snares haphazardly placed like a devised plot to make us stumble. There are sharp thorns strewn about carelessly that pierce our skin and make us bleed, sometimes draining every last bit of life out of out frail bodies. There are narrow straights that seem almost impossible to squeeze through and wide open spaces that make following the right road a hard one to choose. And, with all of these things, there can even come a time where the bridge to where you know you need to be is temporarily out of service and the only way across is with a helping hand.

Our road, when traveled alone, can be a daunting task with all of these traps and distractions, but with community there is hope. Without road mates, who would be there to warn you when a pothole is about to make you stumble or release you when you fall into a perfectly set trap? Who would be there to pull out your thorn when it’s pierced you so deeply that the internal wound just continues to bleed? Who would be there when the only way down the road is to lean on someone’s shoulder until your wound has fully healed?

This is why we have community. The people who we invest in and live life closely with are the ones who get us to the finish line. They are the ones who push us when we think the road just seems too hard to walk and the ones that keep us on track when our path becomes wide open with endless distractions. With community, those small narrow parts of the road seem to widen, and the choices of which direction to take become clear. As we walk this life with others the stronger we become. Our wounds heal faster, our discernment gets sharper and our survival rate is dramatically increased. With many we are strong, but with one we are week. It is written in the Holy handbook for life that, “Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” Romans 12:4-5

In the end our path we choose may be the upright and righteous one, but alone we are not strong enough to walk it. Without the whole fully functioning body working together for the ultimate good of each other we will never reach our goal on the one true path of life.

Lauren Rae Vopatek