{"id":257,"date":"2013-04-30T12:00:07","date_gmt":"2013-04-30T12:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/yourbestlifenow\/?p=257"},"modified":"2013-04-30T12:54:38","modified_gmt":"2013-04-30T12:54:38","slug":"on-the-pathway-but-to-where","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/2013\/04\/on-the-pathway-but-to-where.html","title":{"rendered":"On the Pathway…But, to Where?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Boardwalk<\/a>On the Pathway\u2026But, To Where?<\/p>\n

It’s today’s buzzword, isn’t it? Pathway\u2026Journey\u2026People speak quite frequently these days about being on the path\u2026or, on the journey.<\/p>\n

But, to where?<\/p>\n

For some Christians, it is a journey to heaven.<\/p>\n

Really? Is that the point of this life? Just to endure it to make it finally to heaven?<\/p>\n

At one time, I would have agreed. Everything I was taught about Christianity was all about getting saved in this life so you’d avoid hell in the next. So, you might say, the pathway\u2026the journey was through this life and to heaven in the next.<\/p>\n

You will have to decide this for yourself. I only offer the following suggestion for your thoughtful consideration: \u00a0What if the journey is really about something else entirely?<\/p>\n

When Jesus said, for example, \u00a0“I have come that you might have life and it more abundantly,” has it ever occurred to you that what he meant has nothing to do with tomorrow?<\/p>\n

Some of you will dismiss this notion as absurd, fixed as you are on an conditioned mental construct that includes a heaven somewhere in the sky. You cling to that idea as a child does his hope Santa will remember his requests on Christmas day. You hope for heaven the way some hope a vacation will free them from the stresses, as well as the drudgery, of their daily life. Ever noticed, vacations seldom do. There’s a reason they don’t. It’s the same reason a child’s elation on Christmas Day\u2026his thrill that Santa remembered\u2026soon disappears and then\u2026well\u2026there’s always another Christmas in which to hope, around which a child wraps his dreams.<\/p>\n

Perhaps you’ve never been challenged to reconsider the widely held but mistaken views of New Testament “hope.” Maybe you, too, have thought that Christian “hope” is a wish for something better…something out there…the longing for what you do not have now or do not know today will be fixed one day\u2026then, you’ll know, in the sweet by and by, as we used to sing in the little white church on the hill…then we’ll have whatever it is we feel life has cheated or stolen from us now.<\/p>\n

No, my friend, New Testament hope is not about “wishing” at all. It is, instead, a quiet satisfaction\u2026an inner calm\u2026an unwavering confidence that frees you from all such wishing. Hope is knowing what others do not; it is having today what everyone seeks tomorrow.<\/p>\n

And, what is it that everyone seeks? A future that they imagine is better than now. A blissful, trouble-free tomorrow that replaces the boredom and drama of today.<\/p>\n

What these people have yet to learn, and I am only beginning to learn, is this: the future\u2026whatever it is\u2026only ever comes to you, to me, as today\u2026<\/p>\n

If you cannot know today or have today what you imagine tomorrow bringing, when tomorrow comes as today, will it not just bring with it more of today’s longing\u2026more today’s unfulfilled wishing?<\/p>\n

My friends, the mystery of life is the awakened, enlightened, salvific realization that the path you follow\u2026the journey you’re taking\u2026leads absolutely nowhere…<\/p>\n

And, yet, everywhere at the same time.<\/p>\n

That’s the paradox.<\/p>\n

You say, “That’s confusing?”<\/p>\n

Perhaps.<\/p>\n

But perhaps that’s because you and I are still looking for what we do not have\u2026still seeking for what we do not know.<\/p>\n

When the seeking, the wanting, the wishing, the hoping…when the looking finally ends\u2026then, and only then, will we discover the wonder, the mystery, the bliss of abundant living – life as Jesus knew it…described it…life as the Buddha and a myriad of others have lived it\u2026<\/p>\n

They have learned life’s greatest secret…<\/p>\n

The path is NOT about going anywhere.<\/p>\n

The journey is instead…<\/p>\n

The destination.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the Pathway\u2026But, To Where? It’s today’s buzzword, isn’t it? Pathway\u2026Journey\u2026People speak quite frequently these days about being on the path\u2026or, on the journey. But, to where? For some Christians, it is a journey to heaven. Really? Is that the point of this life? Just to endure it to make it finally to heaven? At…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":551,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,14,15,9,336,13,4],"tags":[343,73,340,339,342,305,337,338,341,344,345],"class_list":["post-257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-awakening","category-christian","category-christianity","category-enlightenment","category-salvation-2","category-spiritual-awakening","category-spirituality","tag-awakened","tag-enlightened","tag-heaven","tag-journey","tag-mystery-of-life","tag-paradox","tag-path","tag-pathway","tag-point-of-this-life","tag-salvific-realization","tag-the-journey-is-the-destination"],"yoast_head":"\nOn the Pathway...But, to Where? - Your Best Life Now<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"On the Pathway...But, to Where? - Your Best Life Now\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On the Pathway\u2026But, To Where? It’s today’s buzzword, isn’t it? Pathway\u2026Journey\u2026People speak quite frequently these days about being on the path\u2026or, on the journey. But, to where? For some Christians, it is a journey to heaven. Really? Is that the point of this life? Just to endure it to make it finally to heaven? At…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/2013\/04\/on-the-pathway-but-to-where.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Your Best Life Now\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-04-30T12:00:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-04-30T12:54:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/yourbestlifenow\/files\/2013\/04\/pathway.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"smcswain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"On the Pathway...But, to Where? - Your Best Life Now","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"nofollow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"On the Pathway...But, to Where? - Your Best Life Now","og_description":"On the Pathway\u2026But, To Where? It’s today’s buzzword, isn’t it? Pathway\u2026Journey\u2026People speak quite frequently these days about being on the path\u2026or, on the journey. But, to where? For some Christians, it is a journey to heaven. Really? Is that the point of this life? Just to endure it to make it finally to heaven? At…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/2013\/04\/on-the-pathway-but-to-where.html","og_site_name":"Your Best Life Now","article_published_time":"2013-04-30T12:00:07+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-04-30T12:54:38+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/yourbestlifenow\/files\/2013\/04\/pathway.jpg"}],"author":"smcswain","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/2013\/04\/on-the-pathway-but-to-where.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/2013\/04\/on-the-pathway-but-to-where.html","name":"On the Pathway...But, to Where? - Your Best Life Now","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/2013\/04\/on-the-pathway-but-to-where.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/2013\/04\/on-the-pathway-but-to-where.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/yourbestlifenow\/files\/2013\/04\/pathway.jpg","datePublished":"2013-04-30T12:00:07+00:00","dateModified":"2013-04-30T12:54:38+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/#\/schema\/person\/a79b0cba765879c3d1711d801e7b5018"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/2013\/04\/on-the-pathway-but-to-where.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/2013\/04\/on-the-pathway-but-to-where.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/2013\/04\/on-the-pathway-but-to-where.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/yourbestlifenow\/files\/2013\/04\/pathway.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/yourbestlifenow\/files\/2013\/04\/pathway.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/2013\/04\/on-the-pathway-but-to-where.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"On the Pathway…But, to Where?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/","name":"Your Best Life Now","description":"Beliefnet Voices","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/#\/schema\/person\/a79b0cba765879c3d1711d801e7b5018","name":"smcswain","description":"I'm an Author... Leadership Coach... Counsel to Non-Profits, Faith-based Organizations and Congregations... Adjunct Professor of Communication at the University of Kentucky... Spiritual Teacher... Inspirational and Motivational Speaker. But not always in this order. On the university campus, I teach students the Art of Communication. In my public talks, however, I teach leaders the Art of Leading; I teach everyone the Art of Living...so that... when you come to the end... and, you will come to the end... You're able to look back on life feeling... Fulfilled... Accomplished... Content, Peaceful, and Happy, too... Knowing your brief but important journey has made this world a more... Conscious... Compassionate, and... Charitable place. What could possibly be more important than this?","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.stevemcswain.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/author\/smcswain"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/551"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=257"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":263,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257\/revisions\/263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}