Road to Zion

U.S. Route 66 (US 66 or Route 66), also known as the Will Rogers Highway and colloquially known as the Main Street of America or the Mother Road, was one of the original highways within the U.S. Highway System. Route 66 was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The highway, which became one of the most famous roads in America, originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona before ending at Santa Monica, California, covering a total of 2,448 miles (3,940 km).  It was recognized in popular culture by both the hit song “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66” and the Route 66 television show in the 1960s.

Route 66 served as a major path for those who migrated west, especially during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, and it supported the economies of the communities through which the road passed. People doing business along the route became prosperous due to the growing popularity of the highway, and those same people later fought to keep the highway alive in the face of the growing threat of being bypassed by the new Interstate Highway System.

My good friend Rob and I travelled part of Route 66 last year, from Los Angeles to the corner in Winslow Arizona (made famous by the Eagles).  The trip was amazing and took us through the iconic American country side, desert, and towns. Travelling down Route 66 you cant help but get caught up in the history and heritage of the journey.

The 2,400-mile-highway took us to places that we needed to be, not in a literal sense, but a more philosophical sense.  ~ Roger White (Curator of the Smithsonian Institute).

Every road that we journey down is a symbol of movement, ether physical or spiritual.  Every road we travel teaches us something new about life. When we go on a great journey there is sense of someone who has gone ahead of us and is calling or pulling us forward to reach the destination.

May you my brothers and sisters reflect on the journey of your life, where it has taken you, where it is leading you.  The journey is as close to you as breathing. May you come to know who is waiting at the end of the road.

Road To Zion
 
There is a way that leads to life
The few that find it never die
Past mountain peaks graced white with snow
The way grows brighter as it goes

There is a road inside of you
Inside of me there is one too
No stumbling pilgrim in the dark
The road to Zion’s in your heart
The road to Zion’s in your heart

The river runs beside the road
Its waters living as they flow
In liquid voice the water calls
On thirsty knees the pilgrim falls

Sometimes a shadow dark and cold
Lays like a mist across the road
But be encouraged by the sight
Where there’s a shadow, there’s a light

Sometimes it’s good to look back down
We’ve come so far – we’ve gained such ground
But joy is not in where we’ve been
Joy is who’s waiting at the end

– Road to Zion by Petra