Just some early morning thoughts from me to you…

“Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”   
John 14: 5-6 (NIV)

“And if I see your light, should I believe. Tell me how will I know.”

Over thirty years ago the song “Show me the Way” was released by the musical group Styx. The song was written by Dennis DeYoung, lead vocalist and keyboardist with the group, intended as a prayer for himself, during a self-described crisis of personal faith.

A devout Roman Catholic, he said he originally wrote the song, meant to be like a hymn, about the struggle he was going through to keep the faith in a “world so filled with hatred.”

The song was released at the end of 1990, and with the entry of the United States into the first Gulf War a few months later, the song became identified with that war.

Yearning for someone or something to show him the way through his struggles, DeYoung wrote these words—

“Every night I say a prayer in the hope that there’s a heaven,
And every day I’m more confused as the saints turn into sinners.
All the heroes and legends I knew as a child, have fallen to idols of clay,
And I feel this empty place inside so afraid that I’ve lost my faith.
Show me the way, show me the way,
Take me tonight to the river and wash my illusions away.
Show me the way.
And as I slowly drift to sleep, for a moment dreams are sacred.
I close my eyes and know there’s peace, in a world so filled with hatred.
That I wake up each morning and turn on the news, to find we’ve so far to go,
And I keep on hoping for a sign, so afraid that I just won’t know.
Show me the way, show me the way,
Bring me tonight to the mountain and take my confusion away.
And show me the way.
And if I see your light, should I believe. Tell me how will I know.
Take me tonight to the river and wash my illusions away.
Show me the way, show me the way.
Give me the strength and the courage to believe that I’ll get there someday.
And please show me the way.
Every night I say a prayer, in the hope that there’s a heaven.”

Sadly, just as those words rang true for him then, they still ring true today. A sense of despair and hopelessness lingers in too many corridors of our nation and world, and personally in our own lives, at times, as well as in the lives of so many around us.

People seeking a light, a way, looking for a ray of hope in their lives. Too often feeling isolated, alone, rejected, and unworthy, misunderstood, or ignored.

A world full of people of all ages looking for someone who cares enough to show them the way, when no way seems to be before them.

Even Thomas, one of His disciples who was with Jesus after His resurrection from the tomb, couldn’t see the way ahead. 

But here’s the Good News. It’s what Jesus said to Thomas in that moment, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

No matter what. No matter why. No matter the uncertainty of the day, or the one to come. No matter all that is before you. No matter the sense of feeling all alone without purpose or direction for the journey ahead.

Jesus is always the Way. The One who is there and always will be—to walk with us, lift and encourage us, and carry us when we can’t seem to take another step on our own.

“Every night I say a prayer, in the hope that there’s a heaven.

And if I see Your Light, should I believe, tell me how will I know.”

Look up—One Way. One Person, Light, Truth, Hope. One Heaven. One Way.

And He’s always got you, and me.

In His Name–Scott

Be lifted and encouraged by this video and song of “Show Me the Way” by Styx.