Thoughts
One Way, One Person – Always
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.
Recent Thoughts
God Moments in the Basilica
There are things that are supposed to fit a certain way, and then, of course, there have to be things that don’t fit. There are rules, doctrines, dogma, expectations, certain ways of proper behavior and decorum and etiquette. But Christ, in the passage above, talks about those things that don’t seem to fit, the least in society, and our response.
Rope Bridges and the Father’s Hand
When she reached the top of the apparatus, she stopped, for there in front of her was a rope bridge that spanned the walkway below, leading to the tower on the other side and eventually the way down. She could see her Mommy, Daddy and Mimi below her through the ropes, as they encouraged her to walk across the rope bridge. But she stood there—frozen—afraid to move forward and afraid to move back.
The Day the Stars Danced
I will never forget the moment, of many memorable moments, from that pilgrimage to our Nation’s capital, introducing our son, then a teenager, to some of the history of our Nation. As we listened to the curator proudly explaining and pointing out some of the notable things about the Declaration of Independence, chills and tears flooded my emotions.