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)
Over thirty years ago the song “Show me the Way” was released by the musical group Styx. Written by Dennis DeYoung, lead vocalist and keyboardist with the group, the song was a prayer for him, during a self-described crisis of personal faith in a world which seemed so filled with hatred.
The song then later became identified with the first Gulf War.
Here are some words of “Show Me the Way” DeYoung wrote through the struggles in his crisis—
“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…
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 please, show me the way.”
I wonder if those words don’t ring true today. Just look around, with the lack of direction and vision of so many of all ages.
A sense of hopelessness present in too many corridors and lives in the world around us.
People of all ages looking for someone to show them the way, someone to lead them to the mountain top.
People seeking a ray of hope for their lives. Often feeling so lost and hurting they settle for anything, including whatever numbs the pain and provides any kind of relief, even though temporary.
Where do we go? When facing mountains in our lives.
How do we find the path to our dreams again? Dreams we once held sacred in our hearts.
In a world which seems so filled with hatred and confusion—where do we go to find peace, and healing and hope for today and our tomorrows?
Impact for Living will be doing a video series discussing these areas, which for too many lead to a personal crisis of faith and hopelessness. It will be available on the Impact for Living website and YouTube channel within the next few months.
Until then and for every day thereafter, the short and best answer for me, and I would suggest for you, as to where we go to find peace, healing and hope for tomorrow is set out in the passage we read above, where Jesus says—
“I am the way and the truth and the life.”
Go there. Look there. Christ will show you and me the way. He is the hope for Heaven Dennis DeYoung was searching for during his personal crisis of faith when he penned those words thirty years ago.
Maybe he realized it himself, or someone pointed him that way. I hope so.
Christ is the Way.
In His Name–Scott
