Road

One of the great memories of my life is when I took my Dad, Big Ed, who was visiting from New York, on a little day trip into the mountains around Prescott, Arizona, where I was living.
Prescott is a beautiful town at a mile in elevation, that is surrounded by the Prescott National Forest, and a mountain range that was mined for gold many years ago. Arizona, in general, is one of the few places left in the continental U.S., where you can find adventures that cannot be found elsewhere.
As my Dad and I drove up the mountain road into the National Forest that day in his rented car, we began to see the marvelous sites. Crossing the road, following the path of the sun, would march an army of tarantulas. If you were there at the end of the afternoon, you would see them marching back again the way that they had come. You could see the entrances to the old gold mines carved into the side of the mountain, and what was left of the tracks that brought the miners in, and took the gold out of those mines. Some of the mine shafts were dug straight down. You could walk over to them, but you couldn't get too close, because the edges were unstable. Below was Lynx Creek, where people were still able to pan for gold, and they could be seen out there with their families, especially on weekends, sitting in the creek with their panning tins. The aroma of the pines and balsams was incredible, and the sky was a deep blue. You could hear a continual "woosh" sound of a wind that blew through the tops of those endless pine trees.
Eventually, we turned off the forest road onto a very narrow rutted road, like the one in the photo above. It was called the Old Walker Road. It was very narrow, and deeply rutted, and uneven. It clung to the side of the mountain, and sections of it had even fallen away. As we began onto this old road, I wasn't sure if my Dad wanted to continue. When I asked, he said, "Why not-the car's a rental." After quite a distance, the road would eventually widen, and circle around and down to Lynx Lake, and finally out onto a highway.
(The use of the word "lynx" is interesting. In the Native American understanding, the lynx animal is associated with the spiritual ability to know the truth, to see into the soul, to see the thoughts and intents of the heart, although they may be unspoken. It is connected to the Great Spirit because of these characteristics. The Hebrew word connected to the lynx means "white like the moon, light, to make white, become white, to be purified, cleansed, purged.")
Back to the story-So we continued our very slow progress along this old mountain road. It was so narrow, that if you met a car coming from the opposite direction, which was very unlikely, someone would have to back up until the road widened out at certain spots, and the other car could pass. This was not a road that you wanted to drive in reverse, so you prayed that you wouldn't meet another car.
As the road deteriorated, I had to get out of the car and take large stones from the sides of the road to "build up" the sections that were rutted too deeply to drive over, or had fallen completely away. Big Ed, behind the wheel, would inch forward, as I re-built the road in front of the car. I would have to kneel down on hands and knees to look under the car as it drove forward to make sure the bottom wouldn't scrape.
We eventually completed our trip over the Old Walker Road, got down to Lynx Lake and the place where the road widened, but it took us hours. After we finally came out onto the open highway, we stopped at a cowboy joint called The Reata Pass, where Big Ed could get a much needed beer.
When we got back to the house, my Mom asked us if everything was alright, because we had been gone for so long. My Dad told her that everything was fine, and he had had the best time ever.
Spiritually speaking, it would be a much easier, and smoother ride if we could always travel on wide open highways. However, sometimes our Father sends us onto the ancient roads. These roads are narrow, and uneven, broken down, and forgotten (Jer. 18:15). He sends us that way so we can re-build those ancient roads, building and leveling them with stones of His name and truth (Isa. 58:12, 61:4). You won't meet many people on these roads, and you may have to progress in inches, rather than miles. However, each stone that you lay to re-build the ancient road are stones that slay giants (1 Sam. 17:49-50), stones that spring forth with the spiritual water of life for those in the desert (Num. 20:8), stones that cry out in praises when humans are silent (Lk. 19:40), stones of revelation upon which Jesus builds and edifies His Church (Mt. 16:18), stones upon which are written new spiritual names (Rev. 2:17), and stones of the foundation of the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 3:10-11). Along the Way on your spiritual trip, you will see, hear, smell, and experience wonderful things-things you never would have experienced travelling on the easy, open highway.
Though the process and the progress seems painfully slow, the Father, Big Ed (Edward means "Blessed Protector"), is with you driving that car as you re-build the Way ahead of Him (Isa. 40:3-4, 62:10). Eventually, He will bring you out to the wider place, where the still waters lay. He will bring you out onto the paved road, and then onto the smooth highway, where you can find those places of refreshing after that tough journey, and then speed your way home.
That little adventure with my dad happened many years ago, and Big Ed passed away back in 2000, but I remember it very well. The journey we took that day was not easy at all, but it was "the best time ever."

Our Father asks us to take the narrow way, the road less travelled (Mt. 7:13-14).

 

*Photo above-old forest road in the area of Prescott, Arizona.

"The Road Less Travelled"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mk03EACfpAc

"If I Do Not Sing...the Rocks Will Cry Out"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3NOwpb70lY
 

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