The Road

There’s a Bruce Cockburn (pronounced Co-burn) song called “Pacing the Cage,” and the final verse is this: “Sometimes the best map will not guide you/ You can’t see what’s round the bend/ Sometimes the road leads through dark places/ Sometimes the darkness is your friend/ Today these eyes scan bleached out land/ For the coming of the outbound stage/ Pacing the cage.”

I think, to one degree or another, these words describe what a lot of us are feeling. We live in uncertain times. We are caught in the conflicting pull of faith and circumstance. Like Cockburn, many of us are just looking for a way out. Even our relationship with our Bible is difficult. We are discovering, some of us for the first time, that the Bible was never meant to be read like a map. It calls us to action, but rarely shows us where that action will lead in our own situations.

So what do we do when the road leads to dark places? Here are some thoughts.

1. Look at your feet.

Psalm 119.105 says: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” We don’t think of light now the way the psalmist would have thought of it then. Light did not enable the psalmist to look down whole city blocks. It was a pale flame that he held above his head to see the terrain in his immediate vicinity, the ground at his feet. This is the light of God’s word. Occasionally God gives us direction for weeks or months or sometimes even years, but most often God gives us wisdom enough for one decision at a time.

2. Take another step.

The truth of the matter is that we don’t need to see where the road goes in order to take the next step. Too often we fret and fume over issues where no decision of our own is required. The result is that we become too afraid and bitter to make the decisions that really matter. When saturated in God’s word the Christian life should embolden us to make right decisions if only by virtue of the attitudes we take on.

For the Christian, certain attitudes will always trump others, resulting in the elimination of a lot of choices. Submission always trumps rebellion. Gentleness always trumps anger. Humility always trumps pride. Right out of the gate, you have three categories of actions to take, and three categories of actions not to take. I think we’ll find that many of the steps we need to make can be determined by even a cursory look at the fruit of the Spirit.

3. Stop complaining

Bitterness is a self-inflicted wound and complaining is the dope we take to make us feel better. Living in dark times is difficult so it’s no surprise that we would try to comfort ourselves by railing against the injustices around us. We are indignation junkies, spewing self-righteousness at others’ hypocrisies while conveniently ignoring our own. In many ways that seems preferable to being the lonely pilgrim with her frail light taking one step at a time through the darkness. But in this we are responsible to be a testimony as followers of Christ. While the Christian holding the light sees only what is at her feet, that small, frail light can be seen by others for miles around. Living out the fruit of the Spirit feels lonely and ineffectual. But when you do, someone out in the darkness will see your light and wonder where you’re going.