The Roads Least Traveled

My good friend Andy and I are now both writing blogs about our journey's in life - his with a slightly more spiritual leaning than mine. Considering that we grew up together in a church in San Francisco and then, as is natural, went our own separate ways - but remained best friends, it is not a stretch to see that we are both now sharing our love of God at the same moment in time. But the roads we traveled to reach this moment are very different.

When we graduated from high school, we went to two different colleges. After one year, I joined the Navy and Andy joined a fraternity. After college, Andy married his college sweetheart, and I broke up with my high school sweetheart. When Andy was getting a good job, I was going off to Idaho to get my degree. When Andy was buying his house, I was living in Las Vegas. When Andy was having his first kid, I was just starting work with a new company. When Andy was having his second kid, I was moving back home again. (A very abbreviated version of ten years of our lives... ;)

Shortly after I started my new job, I realized that I was finally in a position to have free time and to do something different with my life. I remembered fondly my days at Lakeside Presbyterian Church and I decided to go back there. At first, I just went to sing in the choir. I'd always enjoyed singing. That lasted about five minutes on the first night before I was recruited into the bell choir as well. After another couple of months, I realized that the Associate Pastor was having trouble doing things with the Youth Group because her long time volunteer had left to join the seminary (I sense a theme...). I took her aside and told her that if she needed my help with the youth group, I'd be happy to do things from time to time. Before long, I was a full time youth assistant. And then, I was asked to serve on Session and became the head of Christian Education. Finally, last spring, the Associate Pastor moved on to another church and the entire youth group program fell to me.

For five years now, I've been very active in the church and much more active in my faith than I'd ever been before. My confidence in my faith has been growing steadily in that entire time. I've read the Bible now nearly twice through - to the point that during one Men's Breakfast I was able to rattle off the name of a prophet before the Pastor could remember it (which shocked me more than him ;) I pray regularly. I've led the youth on one mission trip, conducted my own overnighter (How did Pastor Dave manage to do that? I only had three kids!), done two Ice Cream Socials, and watched my first graduating class take their first steps into the bigger world.

Andy, on the other hand, had quite a different route. He went back to church when his second child was born and spent the first couple of years with a more evangelical church. After a while, he realized that this wasn't the sort of religious experience he was looking for and headed instead to his current church. Since then he's blossomed into an educator, puppet master, and part time pulpit supply at his church.

We've gone down two completely different paths, seen completely different things, had completely different experiences, and yet, we've arrived at the exact same point - we're are now both walking the footsteps of Jesus Christ. How many other roads are there that all lead to this point? How many narrow paths coming from so many different directions meet at this one road? Einstein's definition of infinity is that it is the point where parallel lines meet. I've always thought that a poetic statement that to me sums up where we will find God. Though Andy and I walk side by side, in Christ, we walk as one.