Now we’re in the last full week of Advent and we’re approaching the winter solstice, I’m posting a few imaginative thoughts based on the story of Jesus’ birth. This week in 2025 holds dreadful news. New sadness and fear has entered the world. It’s into just such a world that some messengers speak.
This is a story of a man with the job of preparing the way for someone else. It’s hard work and he compares it to building a a road.
Building roads is hard work, back breaking, palm blistering, limb tiring, and head crushing work. Before you get to the hard physical work, there’s a lot of thinking to be done, then talking, consulting, objections and persuasions, plans and notices, permissions and start dates.
Once the consultations are over, the permissions are granted and the start date’s decided, you’d think it would be straightforward, but no. Everyone complains about potholes, mud and gravel. They complain about sharp bends, blind corners and traffic hold ups, so you’d think everyone would be delighted about a new road, wide enough for two-way traffic and straightened out with a clean smooth surface, but when it comes to being built, then a new load of complaints pile in.
Temporary traffic lights hold up traffic more than potholes, and diversions add more to journey times than wide bends. While the road workers toil, drivers get nostalgic for the bad old road.
My name’s John, son of Elizabeth and Zechariah. I’m the one Angel Gabriel was talking about when they interrupted my father at his most important work! My birth and name caused some trouble I can tell you. Blessing and trouble could be my middle names!
The road planned out for me was probably to become a priest like my Father, but God has sent me on a detour via the desert. God wants me to be a sort of road builder, preparing the way for the Messiah, filling in the holes and smoothing out the bumps in our nation’s life, clearing away the rubble that gets in between us and what God is doing.
I don’t expect it to be popular – I’ve never been a popular sort of man and I know people can get attached to the holes and bumps that trip them up, but I’ve got strong arms and legs and a good head on my shoulders and I’m prepared to do whatever it takes to get us on the road to God.
Wandering Through The Land Of Nod. 