Tag Archives: the way truth and life

The freedom road

 

image At the Richmond Civil War Battlefield in Kentucky you can take a free tour of the historic Roger’s house that witnessed the fierce fighting of that time. Caretaker Phillip Seyfrit is eager to share historical perspective on the happenings of that era. One of the items that caught my eye was a quilt pattern from the underground railroad.

 

It wasn’t uncommon in those days for quilts to be aired out on a fence or window ledge. The underground railroad used specially ‘coded’ quilts in this inauspicious way to send alerts to slaves planning to escape. Each quilt pattern signaled a specific action to take when the quilt was aired. A wagon wheel indicated they should pack things in a wagon but a ‘drunkard’s path’ pattern warned they should move in a staggering manner and avoid straight lines to keep from being detected by slave hunters. A bow tie indicated they should wear formal clothes as if going to a wedding or other special function. The pattern of a log cabin indicated the slaves were on the right route. There were a dozen or so of these special quilt patterns that held no significance to the casual eye. But to the watchful eye, they spoke the code of freedom and outlined the path to escape from captivity.

 

Today we revel in our freedom. We think of it as our inalienable right. Yet you might not feel free. You may feel imprisoned in trouble that never ends. You keep looking for an escape path but there seems to be no way out. And it’s not just our troubles that bind us. So do our pursuits.

 

The bible says we all remain slaves – that whatever we obey becomes our master. We don’t like to think of ourselves as being addicted, but we are drawn like moths to the fire by our appetites and ambitions. We imprison ourselves in unforgiveness and let ourselves be chained to harmful opinions and beliefs that separate us from others and separate us from God. We willingly handcuff our minds to the pursuit of indulgent lifestyles that confines us to an island isolated from the rest of our brothers and sisters around the world. We think we are free but our minds and hearts remain captive to what we pursue. Our spirits yearn for the freedom road but our fleshly appetites and desires long to remain in Egyptian captivity. How do we find a way out? Is there a secret code we can follow?

 

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.” (John 14:6) The message is in plain sight, not hidden in some secret pattern, though most will not see it still. Is His message quilted into the fabric of your daily life and freely aired as a constant reminder to you and others to stay on the freedom road? It seems intolerable in today’s pantheistic society, but it is The Way of freedom, not just for salvation, but for today!