Everyone has the opportunity to be a John the Baptist. Do you know his story? You don’t have to be a part of the Judeo-Christian tradition to have heard of him. He’s the guy whose life ended shortly after a dance show more famous than any performance of the last two thousand years. John lost his head after the “Dance of the Seven Veils.” That dance and John’s fate has caught the attention of artists, sculptors, composers, dramatists, novelists, dancers, poets, movie directors, producers, and actresses like Rita Hayworth—my goodness, just about every fifth person on the planet has somehow touched on the story of Salome and the death of John.
Poor John. All he wanted was a moral world. All he wanted to do was fulfill Isaiah 40:3 as retold in the Gospels. John the Baptist was the voice crying out in the desert. “Hey, I’m building a road here, a straight road for the Lord. That’s my job. I’m preparing for His coming.” In various biblical translations and retellings, the message is pretty much the same. John was preparing the way in the wilderness, in the desert. He was making a “straight highway”—not for himself, but for someone else.
Okay, this is about you, not Judaism’s prophets, Christianity’s Lord, or metaphorical highway construction. What gives you the opportunity to be John is the next generation. Those who tried to make a straight road through the wilderness for you did what they could. Since your path through life isn’t an easy one, you could say they failed to make in the desert a straight highway. Lots of ruts and twists. And now it’s your turn.
Every generation going back 200,000 years or more has had the opportunity to be John. Every generation has had the opportunity to make straight the path through the wilderness, but we still travel somewhat curvy, potholed and even unpaved roads. Not even the rise of industry and technology has made the task easier. Forget your GPS, your theodolites and other surveying equipment, your air-conditioned heavy equipment, and your teams of civil engineers, this kind of road building is still a personal project, still one that involves the efforts of everyone in your generation.
Whether or not you have road construction experience, you’ve been given the job of John the Baptist by virtue of your being here prior to the next generation’s arrival. Obviously, the previous road-builders didn’t get the road quite straight enough to facilitate your travel without incident and obstacle. You can’t fault them entirely. Every generation takes some road construction tips from the previous generations, but each generation also makes similar mistakes. The wilderness is a tough go; there are distractions along the way, fellas and gals, not the least of which is a seductive dance of one sort or another. And then there are the occasional breath-taking natural views, the overlooks that make us want to stop just to capture a view of sunsets and sunrises forever, especially when we tire of road-building. “Can’t the next generation build the rest of this? I’ve come far enough. I’ve done enough work. Look behind me. That’s a pretty straight road—okay, don’t include that one section when I got pretty distracted by something along the way.”
Certainly, there are contemporaries of yours that do what they can to disrupt the construction. There are Herodiases with loyal daughters Salome who will influence someone to imprison or even kill those who would make straight the path. Some in every generation prefer the rough wilderness to a smooth path. Many in every generation don’t care about continuing the road. There are many wayside distractions, many places to stop construction. So, the “lords of the future” will face the same problems your generation faced and still faces.
But while you’re here, you might do a little road construction. Who knows, maybe someday someone will say, “My path was smooth and straight because of him.” Or, “My path was smooth and straight because of her.”
Get busy, Johnny or Johnnie. You have a path to straighten.
Poor John. All he wanted was a moral world. All he wanted to do was fulfill Isaiah 40:3 as retold in the Gospels. John the Baptist was the voice crying out in the desert. “Hey, I’m building a road here, a straight road for the Lord. That’s my job. I’m preparing for His coming.” In various biblical translations and retellings, the message is pretty much the same. John was preparing the way in the wilderness, in the desert. He was making a “straight highway”—not for himself, but for someone else.
Okay, this is about you, not Judaism’s prophets, Christianity’s Lord, or metaphorical highway construction. What gives you the opportunity to be John is the next generation. Those who tried to make a straight road through the wilderness for you did what they could. Since your path through life isn’t an easy one, you could say they failed to make in the desert a straight highway. Lots of ruts and twists. And now it’s your turn.
Every generation going back 200,000 years or more has had the opportunity to be John. Every generation has had the opportunity to make straight the path through the wilderness, but we still travel somewhat curvy, potholed and even unpaved roads. Not even the rise of industry and technology has made the task easier. Forget your GPS, your theodolites and other surveying equipment, your air-conditioned heavy equipment, and your teams of civil engineers, this kind of road building is still a personal project, still one that involves the efforts of everyone in your generation.
Whether or not you have road construction experience, you’ve been given the job of John the Baptist by virtue of your being here prior to the next generation’s arrival. Obviously, the previous road-builders didn’t get the road quite straight enough to facilitate your travel without incident and obstacle. You can’t fault them entirely. Every generation takes some road construction tips from the previous generations, but each generation also makes similar mistakes. The wilderness is a tough go; there are distractions along the way, fellas and gals, not the least of which is a seductive dance of one sort or another. And then there are the occasional breath-taking natural views, the overlooks that make us want to stop just to capture a view of sunsets and sunrises forever, especially when we tire of road-building. “Can’t the next generation build the rest of this? I’ve come far enough. I’ve done enough work. Look behind me. That’s a pretty straight road—okay, don’t include that one section when I got pretty distracted by something along the way.”
Certainly, there are contemporaries of yours that do what they can to disrupt the construction. There are Herodiases with loyal daughters Salome who will influence someone to imprison or even kill those who would make straight the path. Some in every generation prefer the rough wilderness to a smooth path. Many in every generation don’t care about continuing the road. There are many wayside distractions, many places to stop construction. So, the “lords of the future” will face the same problems your generation faced and still faces.
But while you’re here, you might do a little road construction. Who knows, maybe someday someone will say, “My path was smooth and straight because of him.” Or, “My path was smooth and straight because of her.”
Get busy, Johnny or Johnnie. You have a path to straighten.
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