Quickly or slowly, a Christian’s “road” remains the same.

But for me, the desire to speed things up or slow them down springs from our need to control events. And that need came to mind recently when I read a newspaper article discussing how people with religious faith cling to this life longer than others. Studies showed a significant tendency for them to postpone death as long as possible, using the most aggressive medical treatment (Kaplan). … 

The reality, though, is that avoiding the death experience isn’t what Christianity is about. We all will go through it. Jesus did. And Christianity isn’t tied to suffering in the natural life, using pain and firmness of purpose to prove something to God. And, most of all, Christianity isn’t about control. Its purpose is not to give us a better handle for managing our physical lives but to open us to the spiritual life and presence that God already has activated in our hearts.

And so, whether we walk forward quickly or slowly, the road of salvation is always the same. And we are not alone on it. Charles E. Raven, a 20th century Anglican theologian, assured us in “A Wanderer’s Way” : “In the end all roads honestly followed lead to God: of that I am sure … And as we travel we become aware of other footsteps than our own, and the path that seemed so desolate is filled with good comrades, and the would-be pioneer is humbled and gladdened to find that all humanity is marching beside him.” (Turning Aside to See, chapter 10) ©️2011)