I Walk Alone?

"Pilgrim’s Progress" was written by John Bunyan who, in 1675, was jailed for his faith. It is a novel about a person by the name of Christian. Christian is on a journey from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City. On his way he passes through places such as the Slough of Despond, Doubting Castle and Vanity Fair. Many of us are on this journey and we may even find ourselves in one of these three places at one time or another.

The interesting aspect of the novel is that Christian can never make his destination by himself, so along the way he is given travel companions. They have names such as Faithful and Hopeful. What is key, is that Christian on his journey is not alone, and either are we. In our personal journey we often feel alone. Green Day sings the song “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” which says:
I walk a lonely road
The only one that I have ever known
Don't know where it goes
But it's home to me and I walk alone
I walk this empty street
On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Where the city sleeps
and I'm the only one and I walk alone

I walk alone

My shadow's the only one that walks beside me
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
'Til then I walk alone

But we do have traveling companions. Journeying is something we do together. You and I need to be connected to people. We need traveling companions. Matthew (28:20) said the last words of Jesus on earth were "I will be with you always." That’s the promise of Jesus. I don’t do this walk by myself. Jesus knows I cannot make this journey by myself, even when I pass through the valley of the shadow of death, I am not by myself.

I have a problem, though. Sometimes, when I am in the Castle of Doubt, or the Slough of Despair, or Vanity Fair, the invisible doesn’t seem so present. So, how do I experience this promise?

When you hear the word "church," what do you think of? A building a place or people? The Church is not a building or a place. It is a traveling companion!
I love the four characters that we find in "The Wizard of Oz." They actually remind me of not only people in my life, but of some real people who the church is really made up of. If you think about it, none of them could have made it by themselves. Dorothy suffered from a self-esteem problem. It came from the insecurity of an unstable home. If you really look at Dorothy’s upbringing, she was raised by her aunt. Where were her parents? Like many of us, we have never experienced the fullness of God’s blessing because we didn’t have healthy parents that could pass the blessing. We’re dealing with Dorothy-type problems, problems of self-esteem and insecurity. We need a new home. We need to be re-parented. The Lion lacked courage to take the risks that he needed to take to finish his journey. Scarecrow didn’t lack courage, he was ready to step out and do all kinds of weird things, he just needed a little smarts. The Tin Man had frozen emotions. He had the inability to get into an intimate relationship with anyone. Each one of these characters remind us of people we know or even people just like ourselves. None of these could have made the journey by themselves, so they were given as a gift to each other.

As you look at these unlikely traveling companions, look around you. Take a moment. Look to your right, look to your left. Unlikely traveling companions. They are the companions that God knows you need to face the journey. God puts us with unlikely traveling companions who add to my life from their perspective.
What are your thoughts? Better yet...who are your travel companions?