Your name is Traveler. It’s possible no one has ever called you by that name. It’s possible you’ve never identified yourself by that name. It makes no difference. It is your name. It’s always been your name. It is my name, too. By the way, this is the second article in the series called Two Roads. Previous articles are always available online at http://www.webbweekly.com.

In the late 1600s, John Bunyan wrote a book about us Travelers. He called it The Pilgrim’s Progress. For a time, the only book more widely read was the Bible.

Dr. Seuss wrote about us Travelers in his book, Oh the Places You’ll Go.

You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes.

You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.

You’re on your own, and you know what you know.

And you are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

Pilgrim, Traveler, tourist, explorer, refugee, exile, alien, stranger — these are the names given to people who are not home. That’s us — we’re on the road. We’re all Travelers.

It is necessary to note that the road we’re on did not exist during the first part of our human story. Adam and Eve were at home. There is no mention of roads in the Garden of Eden. They didn’t need any roads because they were home — and home was good. It was enough. It was more than enough. They were full, content, at peace. They were whole; they were home.

They were home in a way you and I have never experienced. We have a place we call home, but we know it really isn’t. No matter how fancy and safe we build it, we will leave it someday. It is nothing more than a campsite along the side of the road — a place to pitch our earthly tent as we travel.

Let’s be frank. You and I both know we are not at home. We are constantly on the move. We are always searching for things and experiences that will fill the homesickness we feel deep in our gut. Why? Because we are on the road. The sooner we accept that reality, the better off we will be.

We start traveling on the road the moment we are conceived. Yes, at that very moment, we become Travelers, and we will continue to travel on the road until we reach our destination. It is the way of us.

The road we’re on has a name. Like many roads, its name identifies the destination to which it leads. The name of our road is Death. It is a one-way road that leads to one destination. The grave is our final stop.

Is that a morbid thought? It shouldn’t be. Death is as normal as it gets for us. Everyone travels the road that leads to Death, and sooner or later, we reach our destination. Talking about it should actually be very natural for us, but it isn’t. Why?

Because we shouldn’t be on this miserable road! We know intuitively that Death should not be our destination — it shouldn’t even be a thought in our minds. We were not made for Death. We were made for Life — and every cell in our body longs to be on the road that leads to it. So, how did we get on this road?

As I mentioned earlier, Adam and Eve were at home in the Garden of Eden. They were innocent. They were at peace with God and nature, themselves and each other. Can you imagine such an existence? It sounds heavenly.

When they chose to disobey God, they were taken away from home and put on the road that leads to Death. Like it or not, you and I are traveling that road today. Well, maybe. There is good news coming, so don’t quit reading just yet.

In the book of Ecclesiastes 2:17-23, the author aptly describes what life is like on the road to Death:

So, I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This, too, is meaningless. So, my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This, too, is meaningless and a great misfortune. What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? All their days, their work is grief and pain; even at night, their minds do not rest. This, too, is meaningless.

Does that sound like the road you’re on? If so, I have good news for you: through the work of Jesus Christ, God has completed the construction of a new road. It is called the road that leads to Life. Yes, there are two roads! Jesus refers to Himself as that road in John 14:6.

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Which road are you on? Give that some thought, and we’ll talk more about it next week.