Do You Know The Way?

Do You Know The Way To San Jose

We all know that life is a journey. The Burt Bacharach & Hal David song about directions to San Jose, California points out the difficulties of any travel: “I may go wrong and lose my way”. It also points out why we bother with the trip: “I’ve got lots of friends in San Jose”. The song’s a good place to start humming about our life’s journey. We have a place we want to go: heaven. The question is, “How Do We Get There?”

There are lots of ways to get to San Jose. You could just start hitching a ride – stick out your thumb and get going. But would you be going in the right direction, or just the direction of travel of the person you hitched a ride from? You might end up in San Jose all right, but it would probably be a matter of dumb luck. I wouldn’t recommend this method of getting to where we want to go.

A little more focused method would be for you to get in your car and start driving. At least in this method you are in control. But is that much better? Do you know how to get to San Jose? Well, you may have some general idea of its direction, the Western United States, so you could follow the sunsets. If you were lucky, you might see some road signs along the way mentioning San Jose. You would probably end up closer than you are now, but it would still be a large bit of luck to stumble across San Jose using this method.

Perhaps a better way to get to San Jose is to use the help of someone who’s been there: a map. Maps are a huge help. You find San Jose on the map; you find at where you are; you plot the highways between here and there. And off you go -- assuming the map is current. Assuming there are no detours along the way. Assuming our vehicle has no difficulties. Assuming we don’t run out of gas. And (and this is a BIG ‘and’), assuming we don’t get distracted by something along the way -- and then we may never get there. We may end up like the song, “parkin’ cars and pumpin’ gas”.

Let’s apply the San Jose trip analogy to our trip to heaven.

A first traveler might try to hitchhike to heaven. A person who would choose this method of getting to heaven is either not very serious of wanting to get there or very naïve about how to go about it – but they might get there anyway! Maybe. Who are these types of people? These are those people who never got beyond the basic longings of every human being. Made in the image of God, there is an innate longing in man for heaven, something beyond this earthly life. Some people describe themselves as non-religious, but ‘searchers’ nonetheless. They want to get somewhere ‘better’, serve a ‘purpose’’ with their life, and end it with a summation of meaning. They may have heard of San Jose; they may have heard of heaven. They’re not absolutely sure they want to get there, but they might give it a try. They’ll start out. By virtue of our being alive, we ALL start out.

A second traveler to heaven might get in his own car, versus hitchhiking. He is serious about getting to San Jose – about finding it all on his own. On the road to heaven, we’ve all met these types of individualists. They wander through a lot of religions, cults, or New Age methods of “finding the way”. Wandering is what they do most of, but they are often very enthusiastic about it. They want to tell us of the latest wisdom they’ve come across, or the newest technique for getting in touch with heaven, the saints, ghosts, their inner self, or “the great oneness”. In some ways, we are happy that they are searching, even if what they find is sometimes more amusing to us than anything else. Remember, in their searching, some WILL get to San Jose – I mean, heaven! We may meet them in heaven and be very surprised. A few of these searchers come across the Catholic faith and have the grace and wisdom to stop searching. Some are great defenders of the faith after having wandered through many false paths. These contribute to the benefit of using the Catholic Church as the map.

The third traveler to heaven might use a map by someone who has been there. On the road to heaven, Christ is the traveler who has been there; Christianity is the map. A detailed route is laid out in the words of the bible. We read of the man who has been there, and of the many trials he had along the way. We learn to be confident that we can overcome any of these problems which might slow us down or detour us because He has shown us the way. “I am the Way.” In fact, we can see various routes to heaven on the map. Some may choose one way; others may choose another. The map provides for our free will.

So why of all Christian churches choose the Catholic Church to try to get to heaven? It is the “techy” solution to the map to heaven. Up to date, a veritable GPS map, so that we are guided and don’t lose our way. In step with the latest beautiful stops along the way, aware of the latest detours, and constantly redefining the map addendums to make it easier to understand, easier to follow. Added tools, like the sacraments, make sure we don’t break down or run out of gas. And if we do, a route to repairs, confession, is readily available. The Catholic Church is the best thing available to ensure we travel through this life and reach our eternal home in heaven. Other Christian churches have the bible, and provide very good directions to get to heaven. But the Catholic Church provides the most sure-fire method. How much better is the “techy” stuff than just a map? You may get differing opinions on that, but invariably if you find someone who has the techy stuff and uses it, you will find that he will not give it up for anything. He becomes used to the ease of staying on the path, versus having to check himself continuously versus the map. The Catholic Church is the best, but still not the sure fire way to heaven.

There is that BIG assumption: that we don’t get distracted along the way. What do we do about staying on the way to heaven? This is the BIG one all right. Even many Catholics become distracted, and earthly joys and pleasures along the way become very tempting. Many want to, and many do stop. Many look at the distractions and wander from the map’s optimum route – even if the “GPS” is telling them to turn back!

The real bottom line on getting to heaven is the desire, the will to get there, the love of who is waiting for us at the destination. It is a lifelong journey, but only your earthly life. It’s a short 70 or 80 year journey, and you can relax in heaven for all eternity. The Catholic Church provides the optimum map to get there, and all the associated support documentation. The Church constantly updates the map, considering changes in worldviews and “temptations” along the way. It answers the ever new challenges of “I know a better way”, or “it’s not worth the trip”. The saints have written of the trials of their journeys, so we can know what to expect along the way. And there is an enormous cheering section of the entire Body of Christ, on earth AND in heaven, urging us on. Praying for us. If there is one thing I know that I need on my journey, it is prayers – to the mapmaker.

If you are stuck somewhere right now, pick up your bible, your catechism, and some good books and hit the road. The journey is long and hard, but there are so many beautiful things to see along the way. Have fun! Don’t get lost! Give me a call if you get stuck.

I can’t wait to get there and hit the beach. It’ll be a glorious never-ending vacation. Hope to see you there!