Because the Goal of the Journey is the Company…

I’ve often heard it said that when we are young, we think that the goal of the journey is its destination. It’s about getting somewhere. As we get older (and hopefully wiser), we see that the goal of the journey is the journey. In other words, what we do is good in itself, and we find pleasure along the way, regardless of if we finish up at some desired endpoint, or fall short of that target.

More recently I heard this extended one step further, “the goal of the journey,” said the speaker, “is not the destination, or the journey, but the company we have along the way, and the friendships we form. If that goes well, even if it’s a journey to nowhere and even if it is back-breakingly difficult, it will be worth it, because our greatest joy in life comes not from our accomplishments or from the challenges we have faced, but from the friendships we form along the way.”

What do you think of that?

My instinct is to reply, “can’t we have all three?“

In reality, I think it is about all three. I don’t know about you but I am highly motivated by having things to achieve. My day works with a “to do” list and even when I get to write the list up a little late so that I have already done some things, I still add them in for the sheer joy of being able to tick them off as achieved. I find it wonderfully therapeutic to reach the end of a day with a series of items crossed through and with a tick next to them (I both cross them off the list and tick them just to double the value of the exercise). And if you are wondering, in about 30-45 minutes time I hope to be scratching “write this weeks blog” off the list and placing a great tick alongside it.

But the second insight is also important. The days of our life are made up of multiple tasks and endeavours. Some go well, others less so, but cumulatively all the activity is about being alive and staying alive. Much activity is circular. There are always dishes to wash and clothes to put away. The lawn doesn’t mow itself, nor does money grow on trees – so we beaver away in busy activity, sometimes resenting it, at other times enjoying it, but hopefully remembering that in the midst of all this activity, we are living our life. If we aren’t enjoying it – well that’s just sad. The goal of the journey is the journey.

And so we come to the third – the goal of the journey is the company. I’m resonating more with this than I might have in the past – not because I haven’t met wonderful people before (for I certainly have) but because I have been a little slow in realising how much they have meant to me. Ask me about almost any significant thing I have done and how I got to do it, and I will tell you the story of how someone encouraged me to try it or assured me that I would be able to do it. Ask me about why I didn’t give up at difficult periods and I will tell you a story of someone who reached out and said “Don’t stop. It’s worth the effort. You will get there.” Naturally the actual words used were different, but the sheer encouragement of others has given me the confidence to see many journeys through.

A random story… Like all young white South African males in the 1980’s I had to go through 2 years of military training. Because I had a University degree, I was given a place in an officers training course. I wasn’t as fit as I should have been, and one day we were set the task of finishing a cross country run with full gear in an impossibly short space of time. As we set off our corporal went ballistic in screaming and hurling abuse at us, as was his usual practice and indeed, the practice of the day. The run was going very badly for me, and my body was screaming at me to stop and throw up. Trouble was, this was a qualifying activity and if you didn’t complete it in time, you were off the course. I trudged on wearily but felt worse and worse with every step until I simply stopped. The corporal came racing up to me, and as he approached I thought to myself, “Oh great. So now I’m going to have to put up with a huge screaming match. Well, just let him come. I’m about to vomit, and I will make sure it goes all over him, and that will be my dramatic departure.” But to my surprise, as he approached he didn’t scream. Instead he looked me in the eye and gently but with great intensity said. “Don’t stop now. You really mustn’t stop now. You have to finish this in time. You can do it. I know you can do it. I am going to pace you. Just stay in step with me. We’ve got this, just keep going.” And I did. About 200m before the end he pulled away from me and I finished with about 30 seconds to spare. And I successfully completed the course. It was the only time that corporal spoke to me pleasantly – he was back to yelling and performing about everything we did the next day. But I know that when it mattered, it turned out that he actually wanted us to succeed and would go out on a limb for us – or more precisely, go out on a limb for me. People are truly astonishing. I have never forgotten him.

It’s one story, I could tell so many more. The goal of the journey is the company.

Which of the three “the goal of the journey” applied to Jesus?

Clearly the goal of the journey was the destination – He came to die, and that for us and our salvation. He conquered sin, death and the devil.

True – but he was 30 when his mission began in earnest. Luke 4:40 tells us that the child Jesus “grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.” I think it is fair to argue that for those 30 years when he simply went about life, the goal of the journey was the journey. He identified with our humanity and lived as one of us. We know that he spent part of that time as a refugee in Egypt, and that he also faced the death of his human father, Joseph. He followed in Joseph’s steps as a carpenter. Jesus lived on this planet for about 33 years, and for 30 of them, the daily routine was the daily routine. God was one of us. And then he embarked on a journey with a radically different destination. He did not consider himself ready for it before then. It’s important that we allow the goal of the journey to be the journey, because that is where so much of our personality and posture towards life is shaped. And being a decent human being is a worthy goal in itself.

Jesus could have performed his mission alone, but instead selected 12 disciples to accompany him. For him, at least part of the goal of the journey was the company. True, there was some disappointment in this. Judas did not rise to the opportunity he was given, while others like Simon Peter were slow starters. But Jesus left a company of disciples behind, and empowered by God’s Spirit, they went on to found the church and change the world.

If the goal of the journey is the company, Jesus left behind the Church – a supernatural family bound together by a common allegiance to Jesus and, when things go well, held together by ties of deep friendship.

It is said that “they travel fastest who travel alone.” Perhaps – but I wonder where it is that they get to. If the goal of the journey is the company, perhaps our prayer for this week should be to have eyes wide open to spot and value our fellow travellers.

And shortly I will cross “write this weeks blog” off the list and give it a big tick. Just need to find a photo to go with it…

Nice chatting…

Thanks for helping extend the reach of this blog by reposting and forwarding it on to others. You are free to reproduce material from the blog with acknowledgment of its source.