I remember my father pulling out the Thomas Guide whenever we were going on a trip. This dusty book seemed to be the key to many far-off places and, indeed, it was. But things change over time. I now have a GPS navigator on my cell phone. I even used it once when I was at a conference in Arizona with clergy friends to get us to the Grand Canyon. We did not have a map, but this GPS navigator somehow pinpointed our current location. I just had to type in “Grand Canyon,” and voila! Instant directions to one of the Seven Wonders of the World!

I wish I could tell you that we have a fabulous device with GPS for the Christian path. No church or denomination has a GPS navigator for keying in your current location to get clear instructions on how to arrive safely at your desired location. Instead, we have a magnificent set of stories in our sacred scripture that point in the direction we need to be headed. And, thankfully, we have prayer and the Holy Spirit to help guide us on the journey. But there is no manual or Thomas Guide to give us the exact steps as we trudge along the road. Instead, God asks us to pay close attention to God’s teachings so that we may follow in God’s paths.

We will know that we have finally arrived at the mountain of the Lord when we see swords turned into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks! War no more! This is what it means to walk in the light. This is what it means to live in God’s house.