Life is a Highway?

I started this post a couple days ago wanting to use this picture and trying to think and apply how could I make this picture match to something I want to write about (photo credits to one of my adventure buddies while I drove). What I have come up with is what I believe to be a beautiful metaphor! Whenever I think about writing about metaphors, I think back to high school and all the assignments I got back asking me to stop using metaphors in my writing. Well, here I am years later and I still love using them and I am going to.

Man, has life ever felt like a real highway lately. Or at least it feels like our society has turned it into one, and I am not free of it myself as I am in school right right now and feel so caught up in everything.

For me this is where I get caught into what society (and even myself) is doing to itself here in North America. We have allowed the highway of life to pick us up. We have allowed ourselves to hop on the Number 1 highway, so straight and so numbing. It has been all to easy to just set the cruise over the speed limit and check the mirrors the odd time and scan the ditches. Getting caught up in the numbness of the drive and seeing our destination distance on one of those green road signs knowing that it's in the distance, but not realizing how fast we're gonna get to that destination. I think of the small bends in the highway in the prairies as the curve balls that have keep us on our toes make us actually have to think. And when life gets tough its like a prairie drive on BC highways. Trying to slow down to the roads cause they don't know how to drive them, or driving fast and carelessly cause they think they know how to drive them. When really what we need is our co-pilot. We need Jesus in the front with us. Whether that be on highway 1, the bendy roads of BC, or on those backroads. We need him there to remember the importance of the long stretches, to keep us engaged when all we want to do is fall asleep behind the wheel. We need him to give us the confidence to drive the right speeds in the tough times, and to catch us when we are driving to recklessly.

Personally, I feel like I have been caught on highway 1 for two long, not knowing what my next green sign is going to say, and getting caught up in what my next destination is going to be. Recently God has helped my shift, to gear down. To not worry about getting to my next destination as fast as I can, instead enjoying the process of getting there and not worrying about the next roadside. He has gotten me to pull over and pull out my phone instead of trying to text and drive. He has reminded me about enjoying the journey, not just for myself, also for those that surround. What I have learned is that when I take the time to stop. To go read that point of interest in some field in Saskatchewan instead of just driving past it. That others will stop to, that they'll slowdown and see what I am up to. That when you step on that break and the person behind you has to react to the red brake lights in front of them it makes them think. It makes them have to get out of our fast passed society of go go go. It makes them shake themselves a little more awake and get out of the audio book they are listening to.

So I ask you. Are you too busy setting the cruise, drowning out the world around you? Are you too busy texting while driving that you are unable to see the ice on the road in front of you that you are not ready for what life is gonna throw at you next? Are you unwilling to stop and pull over to make a phone call, to check in on how a friend is doing? Are you too busy blaring your music that you are not paying attention to those closest to you to hear their cares and concerns? Are you in too big of a rush to stop speeding and enjoying what is around you in life? Are you too scare to stop at a point of interest to learn more about the world around you? Are you too terrified to pick up that hitch hiker on the side of the road, and build a relationship that you don't think you want? Are you unwilling to get off the highway to take a dirt road, to get lost and to laugh in the memories of the adventure of life?

So here's to taking life as a road trip. A road trip with no destination. A road trip looking to find the gems of this world in the small town. A road trip looking to build memories. A road trip wanting to build relationships. A road trip built on faith. A road trip that Jesus is your co-pilot. A road trip that you take the bends in the road as they come. A road trip where the GPS is left at home, as we truly don't know what is coming next. What small town will you take your next pee break in greet the clerk by name? Lets journey together, let's shed our light onto the world and get out of fifth gear.