A Journey Begins

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" is a common saying that originated from a Chinese proverb. The quotation is from Chapter 64 of the Dao De Jing ascribed to Laozi, although it is sometimes erroneously ascribed to his contemporary Confucius.  This saying teaches that even the longest and most difficult undertakings have a simple starting point; the very first step one takes in the direction of the stated goal, destination, or purpose.

For me and Aaron, in 2023, a journey of over 12,000 miles we will cover on our American sabbatical began with a 12-hour car trip up the Northeast corridor from McLean, VA to Boston, MA.  Our newly-blessed car, which was prayed over at both Trinity Presbyterian Church (Arlington, VA) and Immanuel Presbyterian Church (McLean, VA) drove through parts of seven states between 1:30 pm on Monday and 2:00 am on Tuesday.  Much of this drive-a-palooza was spent on I-95, which the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has named the most dangerous road in America.  True story.  Look it up.

If you are a frequent driver in this neck of the woods, you might balk at the 12-hour time it took us to get from one destination to the other.  But then you would likely remember that we left, not just on Memorial Day Weekend, but on Memorial Day itself, one of the busiest driving days of the year.  Each time we stopped at a service area (especially on the New Jersey Turnpike), we were reminded that 42.3 million Americans had ben project by AAA to be on the nation’s roads during the holiday weekend.  And many of them were in the ladies room lines at the places where we stopped.  I can’t tell you how many people walked into each those service areas, took one look at the line for the restroom, and made an immediate u-turn back out to their vehicles, presumably to tough it out for the next 50 miles or to make use of some emergency measure.  Me? I just found the end of the line, chatted with the women around me, and was grateful that even the longest lines moved fairly quickly. Seriously, though, New Jersey, get it together.  Twelve stalls? On a highway traveled by 560,000 vehicles per day?

Some things we noticed on our first day of sabbatical:

·       The diversity of the country in which we live was on full display in the service areas along the highways we traveled.  We saw beautiful faces from all over the spectrum of the flesh-tones, admired many different styles of clothing , heard all kinds of languages being spoken, and often understood what was being conveyed, “Patience, little one. Our turn will come.”

·       Some people are more patient than others.  We watched someone jump the line at one of the attendant-staffed gas pumps (again, in NJ) and get very belligerent when the attendant directed him back to the end of the line.  He ranted, cussed, demanded service, asked for names so he could report the attendants, and broke the rules, eventually bullying his way into pumping his own gas (not allowed in that state). We couldn’t help but notice that we were very tense during the entire exchange, worried that this could escalate into a situation involving violence. I don’t like carrying that worry around in my body.

·       Kindness transcends language barriers.

·       People will have very personal conversations right out loud in a roadside diner at 10:00 p.m.  And you will be privy to the drama, whether or not you willingly listen. Wow. Just wow.

·       It is worth it to travel on an uber-busy travel day, especially if it gives you a free day the next day in a place where they have whale-watching.  (Spoiler alert for the next installment).

·       The later you are on the road and the more the truck drivers around you seem to be nodding off at the wheel, the more you appreciate having prayers for your vehicle and for traveling mercies. Thank you all for your prayers as we continue our journey.