Route 66

Built in 1926, Route 66 originally went from Chicago, Illinois to Santa Monica, California. It went through many small towns and past unique shops and businesses. Then the Interstate Highway Act was created by Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956 and it began the death knell for Route 66. It took some time but the highway was officially decommissioned in 1985.

The highway is still there. The Interstate system incorporated some of it when new roads were being laid down.

Other sections have fallen into disrepair. You can no longer drive from beginning to end. You can still find Route 66 though if you are looking for it.

Many years ago, my wife and I drove across the US and I was determined to ride on Route 66.  Every now and then I got off the interstate and traveled down this lost highway. We saw abandoned buildings and the occasional still operating business. This journey was like taking a step back in time.

This forgotten way wasn’t so bad. There was still life there. With all of the hoopla dispersed by the new way of traveling the old way was called antiquated, useless, worthless. Life still exists on Route 66 though. People make a living and are happy! Today many new travelers dip their toes in the old way, the joy spreads across their face and they know they have found a simpler way. Something 

resonates within them, calling them to travel the road less taken.

I was thinking about Route 66 while contemplating my faith journey. It started off so simple. Just me and Jesus. Read my Bible, attend church spend some time in prayer. Then things got crazy. I pushed in and pulled away many times as I got distracted by life. The older I got the more often I forgot the simple times of the early days. Just me and Jesus. I let to many voices in…the cynics, those who walked away from the faith, or never fully believed. I never gave up but I got distracted.

My faith was built on the substance of things hoped for and the evidence not seen. (Hebrews 11:1) Yet in that, I saw God move in mighty ways. The sick, even deathly sick, were healed. Miracles happened. God provided in amazing ways.

I miss those days. I am endeavoring to not go backwards in my faith journey but to remember the simpler days. To return to a time where all I needed was Jesus, my Bible, a healthy prayer life and fellowship with other believers. I want to fully immerse myself again into the waters of a life found in Jesus Christ.