"Night is drawing high-‘How long the road is. But, for all the time the journey has already taken, how you have needed every second of it in order learn what the road passes-by" Dag Hammarskjold

I was searching through a book of Advent resources and came upon this quote. It was a short line among lots of longer paragraphs but its simple, yet profound message jumped out at me. Hammarskjold, a Secretary General of the United Nations and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize understood first hand that on any journey, the stops and detours along the way are equally as important as the beginning and the destination. It is how the work of peace continues.

As the New Year 2008 approaches, I am aware of the twists and turns of the past year, not only in my own life but in the lives of others. It seems we can have very clear goals, have a well defined plan of action, set out on a journey with good intention and then something happens to change our course or at least interrupt it. I think what Hammarskjold is saying is that how we choose to respond to those jags in the road can make all the difference. How we see the little detours to places not on our original itinerary shapes us.

What are the detours you’ve experienced this last year? Have you been completely sidelined by them or have you found a way to see the gifts that are hidden in what might be the ‘plan behind your plan’?  Have you found a way to learn the lessons of what the road passes by and make it a part of moving on with the journey?

In thinking of the story of Christmas, it, too, is a story of journey. Mary and Joseph on the road to Bethlehem. Staying in a barn was probably not a part of their original plan. The shepherds keeping watch and then an angel interrupts what was a pretty calm and quiet life. The Magi, studying the night sky, drawn off course by an unexplainable star. Herod, set to be a ruler and a king, thrown off course by the birth of a baby. There is much we can learn, I believe, from the stories of these journeys.

How long the road is..………..and how rich the journey when we allow ourselves the open heart and gracious spirit to take our plans lightly. Who knows? The detour may just be the road we were meant to take all along.