Life Should Be A Dirt Road

Life is full of many journeys and each of these can take different paths. Some of these paths are just like the expressways where we zip along at break neck speeds just trying to get to our destination, and not once pausing to reflect on where we have been, only where we are going. Others are full of ruts and potholes that jar us from side to side and cause much pain and discomfort. Still others can be filled with large drop offs on either side of the road, where only one wrong move can destroy everything we have worked for.

If you have ever driven slowly down an old country dirt road, you know how different it can be. The first thing you notice is speed ceases to be an issue. Suddenly when you are on a dirt road, the scenery becomes more important than how quickly you can get to your destination. Have you ever just rolled the windows down to breathe the clean country air filled with the scents of the season? Maybe you have stuck your hand out of the window just as a fresh spring rain begins to fall.

We all know dirt roads have one negative side effect and that is dust, but if you have ever had your windshield cracked by a rock on the highway, the damage is permanent unless you replace the window, and dust washes off without any trace it has ever been there. If you have ever paid attention to the homes along a dirt road, more times than not, they will be little paradises set back off the beaten path. Kept as clean as possible with flowers blooming everywhere and usually a chair or two sitting under an old tree just waiting for company to come and visit. Moreover, if you take the time to visit, you will find that country folk will never rush you to leave.

Take the time to visit a little country church on a dirt road and you will see the pride the community puts into Gods' house. No, it will not be some immaculate temple reaching for the sky. Most often it will be a white board building built by the men in the community. Personally, I have walked around many of these churches and have witnessed just how well maintained they are. If you will just close your eyes for a moment, you can almost smell the fried chicken emanating from many dinners on the ground.

Have you ever just walked down a dirt road? If you have then everything becomes new to you, from the sounds you hear, to just how beautiful God’s creation really is. Have you ever thought about how that road got there? The highways of today are something to behold, with men using all of their knowledge and massive equipment to carve roads anywhere that we want them. However, men using nothing but hand tools and dragging logs behind a horse or mule built most old dirt roads.

Life today can be hectic with schedules to keep and mouths to feed. We are living in such a fast age that we all need to slow down and reach back to those dirt roads in our memories. In the words to that old John Denver song, “Country roads take me home to the place where I belong.” Take a moment and maybe even find that chair under an old tree and sit down and enjoy the simple life that exists down a dirt road.