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Road trips. We all love them, don't we? Artists write and record songs about the road, writers write poems about the road, and Hollywood makes movies about hitting the road. Hitting the road can be fun, exciting, and for some, a lifelong ambition to travel cross-country via Route 66.
Willie Nelson wrote the Grammy award-winning song "On The Road Again," and it also earned an Academy Award nomination and a spot in the Grammy Hall of Fame. "On the Road Again" became Nelson's 9th Country & Western No. 1 hit overall (6th as a solo recording act) in November 1980 and became one of Nelson's most recognizable tunes (Wiki).
On the road again
Just can't wait to get on the road again.
The life I love is making music with my friends.
And I can't wait to get on the road again - written by Willie Nelson
Some road trips can be challenging, both physically and emotionally. In his poem "The Road Not Taken," Robert Frost famously describes the challenges we face in our life journeys when faced with tough decisions. We know he took the road less traveled, and it made all the difference.
Living on Long Island, NY, I've experienced physical and emotional trauma while commuting for years on the Long Island Expressway, aka the Long Island distress way, and the Cross-Bronx Expressway. Now, living in Virginia, my new Long Island Expressway is Rt. 66 and 495 without the potholes. Ouch! Road trips are a way of life.
In Sunday's Gospel reading, the two disciples are leaving Jerusalem on the road back home, probably pondering all they had witnessed in those last days, culminating in their confused astonishment at what the women had shared about their experience at the tomb early that morning. In their exhaustion, grief, and confusion, their vision was clouded, and they could not recognize the joy and wonder walking alongside them: this embodied promise confirmed what the women had seen earlier that day.
On the road to Emmaus, the risen Christ revealed himself to the disciples in scripture and the breaking of bread. The disciples realized their "hearts were burning within them as Jesus spoke to them and opened the scriptures to them – The Word – with Jesus' life, suffering, and death, and resurrection. And Jesus made himself known to them in the breaking of bread. The disciples' sorrow and confusion turned to joy as they were sent back onto the road to Jerusalem to tell the disciples about their encounter with Jesus.
When you are on the road again on Sunday, stop at Hope Lutheran Church at 10:30 AM, or watch on Facebook Live, and experience the joy of the life-changing word of God and the breaking of bread. Your journey on the road begins at Hope Lutheran Church, where you will be greeted with open arms, and your hearts will burn within. All are welcome!
On the road again
Just can't wait to get on the road again.
The life I love is making music with my friends.
And I can't wait to get on the road again.
On the road again
Goin' places that I've never been
Seein' things that I may never see again
I can't wait to get on the road again - written by Willie Nelson
Peace+
Pastor Eric
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