Ticket to Ride

This past week Jennifer and I went to train the staff for the Palo Duro Presbytery Summer Camp program at Buffalo Gap. While we were there I had a chance to play the boardgame that my in-laws got me for my birthday. The game is called Ticket to Ride and the objective of the game is to finish with the most points. You earn points by collecting train cards that allow you to place your colored plastic trains on the tracks. You also get points if you successfully connect the cities that are on your tickets. As I played the game with some of the counselors, many of whom were members of the church where I worked as a Youth Director, I couldn't help but compare our lives to the game.

Sometimes others try to cut us off and keep us from where we are going. For some reason, some people feel it is necessary to stop others from achieving their goals in order to achieve their own.

In some cases, our paths cross, never to cross again. In other cases, our paths continue to cross, sometimes in the most unlikely places. And still in other cases, we seem to travel next to each other and even though we might veer away from one another here or there, we always seem to come back together. Some of the relationships we form are special for a while and then they fizzle. Some are fun to keep tabs on. And some are meant to be lived side by side. Isn't it wonderful how God places all kinds of different people in our lives.

As I played I couldn't help but try to figure out where the other players were going. Which reminded me of a scripture passage. In the gospel of John, Jesus appears to some of the disciples early in the morning after they had been fishing all night. After Jesus tells them where to get the fish and they enjoy a fish fry for breakfast, Jesus talks with Peter. Peter had denied knowing Jesus three times, so Peter asks him if he loves him three times. Each time Peter says yes and Jesus tells him to take care of his sheep. Then Jesus implies that Peter will die a terrible death. And then the gospel says, "Peter turned around and saw behind them the disciple Jesus loved... and Peter asked Jesus, 'What about him Lord?'" Jesus tells him not to worry about others. He says, "As for you, follow me." In the game of life, we shouldn't spend so much time worrying about what God has in store for others, we should simply follow Jesus and take care of his sheep.

So the question is, where is Jesus calling you to go? Who are you supposed to take care of?

During the game I would sometimes have to adjust what I was doing in order to get where I was supposed to go. Sometimes I made it and other times I didn't. I suppose the same is true in life. Sometimes we need to make adjustments in order to get where we want to go. Sometimes we will make it and sometimes we won't. But sometimes the journey is more important than the destination. And when it comes to our ultimate destination... we are in good hands.

In the game, you know where you are supposed to go and you try to get there. In faith, we know where we are supposed to go and we know there is no way we can get there. We have been blocked in on every side. But thanks be to God, that the maker has made a way for us to win in the end. Thanks be to God that someday we will be together with God and be able to see all the connections that God was able to make in us and through us.