My mother loves KFC - so do I.

So when we went to visit her in Kingston last Saturday,  she asked that instead of taking her out for lunch  she would like  to have KFC back at her residence at  the nursing home. No sweat, right? Easy, peasey! Sure beats struggling with her wheel chair.

Never be it said that I don't do what my mother says! (She, my mother the comedian, would probably say that there is a first time for everything.) Even Jesus couldn't ignore what his mother told him to do. (John 2)

So off I went. There was suppose to be a KFC outlet close-by. But  it turns out that it had been permanently closed. But by then, I was in downtown Kingston, and found myself dealing with closed streets and detours. It took a little time to extricate myself just to get out of the downtown area.

I stopped to consult my GPS. There were two other outlets,  but both on the opposite sides of the city, each nine minutes away, according to Google Maps. So I chose what I thought would be the more direct and convenient route, using a street that I was more or less familiar with.  Bad choice.

Between where I started and where I wanted to go, there had to be  dozen or more stoplights and I hit every red light there was. These weren't short red lights either but seemed to last forever. Apparently, also, Kingston drivers are never in  a hurry on a Saturday. Surprisingly, my yelling at them didn't seem to inspire any of them to hurry up.  (I am such a paragon of calm and patience in these types of situations.)

So, I kept on driving. I was on a mission! My mother was going to have her KFC if I had to go to the next city to get it.

I was tempted to turn back, convinced that I had somehow missed it, but finally, after about what seemed half-way back to Peterborough, I finally found the KFC and  got  our order.  But then I had to get back - more red lights, more slow drivers, more detours.

Forty minutes later, we were finally enjoying our KFC. (Jesus had it easy - just turning water into wine for his mother!)

But it had made me  think: it is one thing to know where we would like to go in life and  it is another thing to get there. Jesus said, "But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it," (Matthew 7:14).  I don't think he was referring to KFC.

The Way that Jesus offers each of us is often challenging and sometimes it is even difficult. I don't believe that he ever promised it would be easy. His road took him to the Cross and then challenged us to copy him, to pick up our own crosses and follow him in service, in deeds of love, in acts of compassion and sacrifice, in building community, in  finding his Way despite the roadblocks and detours which we encounter along the Way.

There may be some Christians who think that all that matters is that  they are feasting on their bucket of heavenly glory at the end, but  we also need the determination to keep our eyes on the road, to look for the signs that the Holy Spirit is at work among us, and not give up, or  be satisfied with anything less than the life that Jesus insists we live.  It matters that we must know the road and then walk the walk.

There is a wonderful Afro-American spiritual: "Sheep, sheep, don't you know the road?" To which the sheep respond, "Yes. my Lord, I know the road."

Dale