This summer I spent a month taking a 5,000 mile road trip!

I flew from our home in San Jose, California to our home in Vero Beach, Florida. My wife stayed in San Jose to see our daughter & grandson frequently, and to care for our three cats and our grandson’s hamster.

I drove my car (an Infiniti QX70 nicknamed White Lightning) out of the heat, humidity, and hurricanes of Florida.

First, I drove north to where we used to live near Rochester, New York. Next I drove east to visit our son in Manchester, New Hampshire. Then I drove west from Portland, Maine through Rochester and Chicago to the Space Needle in Seattle.

To complete my journey, I drove south through Portland, Oregon and Northern California, crossing the Golden Gate Bridge on the way to San Jose.

As I drove alone for 5,000 miles, a number of ideas popped into my head. Now that I’m back in San Jose, I’m turning them into blogs.

As I drove through “blue” regions and “red” regions, I sometimes listened to talk radio.

The differences were stark! Depressing! Alarming!

For example, in blue regions, I heard about police brutality, especially cops shooting blacks. Additional topics for lament included unnecessary disease and death because some people were refusing to wear masks and get vaccinated. The overarching theme was that the lies of “the Right” were destroying our rights to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

In contrast, talk radio in red regions reported on graffiti that called for the abolition of the police and the establishment of Communism. People who feared climate change and Covid were ridiculed. The overarching theme was that the lies of “the Left” were destroying our rights to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

There was no middle ground. No desire to compromise. No effort to understand the motives and fears of people with different beliefs.

At first, I despaired.

Then, to keep things in perspective, I remembered these famous lines written by Charles Dickens. They begin The Tale of Two Cities, his novel about the French Revolution:

It was the best of times, It was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

Then, I realized that the answer to these hatred and divisions had been  “hiding in plain sight.” The churches! Everywhere I drove, there were churches!

To be sure, our churches are divided and fighting about many things. And yet . . .

We are all trying to follow the Way of Jesus.

The Way of that same Jesus who told his followers on the night he was betrayed—on the night before he was tortured and crucified: “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” (John  14:1, 27).

The Way of that same Jesus who told his followers on the night he was betrayed—on the night before he was tortured and crucified: “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” (John 15:12).

The Way of that same Jesus who told his followers to have ears that hear, eyes that see, and hearts that feel. (Matthew 13:9-16,23).

By following this Way of Jesus, we will fulfill the theme of my book Visions of the Church.

You are the light of the world.

Let your light shine before [people],

   that they may see your good deeds

   and praise your Father in heaven.

“Not by might nor by power,

   but by my Spirit,”

   says the LORD Almighty.

(Matthew 5:14,16; Zechariah 4:6).

To paraphrase the ending of The Tale of Two Cities, “It will be a far, far better thing that we do, than we have ever done before; it will lead to a far, far better rest than we have ever known before.” (Genesis 1:26-2:3; Hebrews 4:1-13).

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For additional thoughts arising from my 5,000 mile road trip in my car White Lightning, please read my blogs “Lightning from East to West”, “Directions Along the Way”, “Delays Along the Way”, “Dangers Along the Way—Narrow Roads”, and “Dangers Along the Way—Heavy Traffic”.

As almost anyone reading this blog knows, there is a famous hit song: “Do you know the way to San Jose?”. Also, I refer to “the way to San Jose” as a reminder of the many references in my blogs to “the Way of Jesus”.