Rockfest Day 12 - The Long and Winding Road

The beginning of the journey is generally an exuberant time. There is the anticipation of what lies ahead, the expectation that goals will be met and dreams will come true. We are full of energy and determination. Nothing can stop us now.

Then reality sets in. The road along the journey is longer than anticipated. It is steeper and harder than it first appeared from the safety of our living room. We find ourselves lost in a detour we didn’t expect and come upon hostile situations. It is enough to make us want to quit and give up mid-trip.

Journeys are long and tiring. That’s why its good to take a few friends along for company.

Dorothy learned this early in her journey. At the outset there was high anticipation and excitement for her journey ahead. There was singing and dancing. Heck, the whole town showed up to wave goodbye and wish her luck. But not too far down the road she encountered her first problem – a fork in the road.

Her instructions were simple enough – follow the yellow brick road. But now the yellow brick road split in to two parts. Which way was she to choose? That’s when her first friend joined her on her journey. Scarecrow wasn’t much help, he didn’t know which way was the right way but he would do his best. So after collecting themselves, they were off singing and skipping.

The journey was interrupted again, this time by a grove of hooligan apple trees. Hungry, and what journey doesn’t make us hungry, Dorothy and Scarecrow just wanted an apple or two to eat. But the local trees didn’t take too kindly to that and threw the apples at them. That’s when companion two joined the team – Tin Man. He wasn’t afraid of the trees, he chopped them down.

Tin Man wasn’t much help, being rusted and everything, but his heart was in the right place. So off they all went, still skipping and singing with great anticipation. Until the road got dangerous again.

Our friends encountered near death at the hands of a dangerous beast – at least that’s the way Cowardly Lion tells it. Dorothy and company were walking through his territory and he was going to protect it. He wasn’t much of a protector as it turns out. But he was good at joining the journey.

Our friends had had quite a time along the road. They were really beginning to wonder whether they’d ever reach their destination. And just at that moment when each wanted to turn back their destination was in sight. Only problem was by this point in the trip Dorothy didn’t have enough energy to get there. She wanted to lie down in the beautiful flowers and nap first.

Laying down on the journey, it’s a strong temptation – it’s a bad idea. If she kept laying there she would never each her destination. Luckily for Dorothy she had another companion on her journey watching over her and she made it snow, waking Dorothy up and setting her back on the right path.

Dorothy encountered several more terrifying twists and turns along her journey but she ultimately did reach her final destination. She did not do it, however, without her traveling companions. Each time there was a new set back Dorothy was not alone. One of her companions would step up and help her through.

The end of a journey isn’t always the great fanfare we experience at the beginning. Most of the time we arrive at our destination, if we arrive at all, tried, worn out and bedraggled. There is not much skipping and singing at that point. We are just happy to have survived.

But we can have the singing and fanfare. Dorothy did. There was just as much celebration at the end of her journey as there was at the beginning. She didn’t look like someone who had battled a long winding road, angry trees, flying monkeys and been held captive by an evil sorceress. She looked like someone who conquered her journey instead of the other way around.

I want to travel like Dorothy. The road to anything worthwhile is never straight and smooth. We were never meant to walk that road alone.

I’m going to encounter my own long road, angry trees and flying monkeys. I hope to avoid capture by the evil sorceress as much as possible. The temptation to give up will be strong at times. But in the event that happens I know my Traveling Companion is right there with me protecting me, guiding me with knowledge and giving me his heart to see my journey to its end.

You’ll recognize me on the journey – I’m the one singing and skipping.
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