Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path (Psalm 119: 105)
On the walls of my study are two large framed post road maps.
One shows the main post roads radiating out from the Post Office in London and indicates the routes by which letters travelled in the mid-18th century at a time when the cross post system was being expanded to allow the transit of letters by the shortest available route, saving time and postage in an era when postage varied with distance.
The second dates from the 1830s and illustrates the effect of measuring distances from a point in central England rather than from London: this was prepared in connection with a Parliamentary Committee’s report into potential postal reforms (there were four such reports in that decade).
In the age of sat-nav we are less dependent on maps than we used to be but still refer to an atlas when considering our travel plans.
Finding our way in life can be problematic until we find a means to get our bearings, but our moral compass is enhanced by regular reading of the scriptures and through a daily walk with God in our devotions.
A good sat-nav copes with our failures to follow its directions by supplying guidance on how to proceed from where we now are. In the same way the bible challenges us to start afresh when we realise that we have taken a wrong turning in life.
The Christian life is sometimes referred to as “The Way” because our faith is a helpful guide in exploring the complex moral issues of modern living.
Upholding our friends and families in our prayers is one of the great privileges of our faith and helps them not to lose their way.
Malcolm Ray from Wokingham Methodist Church, writing on behalf of Churches Together in Wokingham
