How do I get There from Here?
Who has the Map and Knows the Way?


Do you know the way? Do you have the map? I am lost. I need directions from here to there - from the sourness of godlessness to the sweetness of paradise. Can you help me? Are you going my way? Can I tag along? Can I find the way on my own without help? Who has the map and knows the way? How do I get there from here ?

God built an escape route through the valley of tears from godlessness to paradise , defined it with holy places, made a map of them, established a Church, entrusted the map to the Church and gave the Church the mission of serving the new exodus as the new Moses.

Christians try to experience close encounters with the living God at the holy places that define the escape route of the new exodus through the valley of tears from slavery under the yoke of Pharaoh to freedom with God and his holy family in the promised land. Christianity is all about the meeting - the encounter - with the living God at the holy places. To rescue us from our dire predicament in the valley of tears, God built an escape route, defined it with holy places, made a map of them, established a Church, entrusted the map to the Church and gave the Church the mission of serving the new exodus as the new Moses. In short, Christianity is more about going on safari than reading or thinking about a safari.

The new exodus is making its escape on the escape route through the valley of tears from slavery under the yoke of Pharaoh to freedom with God and his holy family in the promised land (Exodus 3:8).

God provides us with a flotilla of lifeboats to evacuate us out of godlessness, ferry us through the valley of tears, and transport us back to our home with God and his holy family in paradise.

The movement of the new exodus on the escape route forms the needle of the compass that always points to God.

Only by moving from holy place to holy place can we be certain that we are heading in the right direction. 

The holy places that define the escape route are the jewels of a beautiful necklace that God established in and set against the hostile desert of godlessness. The beautiful necklace is a gift from the God who loves us - a token of his love.

The escape from godlessness to paradise is primary. Nothing else matters. Everything else is secondary. Anything that interferes is suspect.

Examples of the lifeboats (a/k/a the holy places that define the escape route) upon the earth at which close encounters with the living God take place are the Mass, Confession, the other sacraments, works of charity, acts of kindness, prayer especially the rosary, Eucharistic adoration, feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, fasting, the gathering of two or more together in God's name, bible study, suffering (if we apply love to it), the hour of death, etc..

The ship of godlessness is sinking. 'Abandon ship!' 'Abandon ship!' 'To the lifeboats!' 'To the lifeboats!' Feel the exigency of the escape! The job of the Church is not to save the ship. The job of the Church is to save the passengers. God does not want us to go down with the sinking ship so he provided a fleet of lifeboats to rescue us - to evacuate us from our dire predicament in godlessness, to ferry us through the valley of tears, and to return us to our home with God and his holy family in paradise. Logistics is the job of the Church - transporting us from here to there - from godlessness to paradise. The Church is the usher who shows us to our seats so God can put on the show. .

Stupidly, instead of making our escape through the valley of tears, we have planted roots deep into it. We have become sessile instead of mobile - settlers instead of pilgrims.

Settlers who have put roots deep into the valley of tears need to become pilgrims passing through it.

A close encounter with the living God at the holy places here on earth is the unit of worship in Christianity.

Close encounters with the living God take place here on earth in the lifeboats.

God occupies the lifeboats

God provided us with a fleet of life boats to evacuate us from godlessness, ferry us through the valley of tears and return us back to our home with him and his holy family in paradise. To the lifeboats! To the lifeboats!

To shorten our exile, discover where God has hidden himself here and now in the valley of tears and engage in close encounters with him.

To the lifeboats! To the lifeboats!

Godlessness is a sinking ship. The mission God gave the Church is not to save the ship. The mission God gave the Church is to save the passengers. God is not interested in transforming godlessness into a better, more hospitable place for godless people to live. The transformation that God desires is the transformation of godless people not the transformation of the valley of tears through which we pass . Furthermore, God does not plan to immediately extricate us from our dire predicament in the valley of tears. God still expects us to run the course, finish the race and complete a lifetime in the valley of tears . God's plan requires us to stew for a time in the valley of tears. [Note: The brevity of life proves the mercy of God.] A brief stewing, in God's opinion, is harsh but effective medicine. The experience verifies for us that the serpent was a liar (Genesis 3:5) and that God told us the truth (Genesis 3:3). Moreover, when God delivers the gift of paradise to us, we will keep it. We will not fumble the ball as Satan did, the gaggle of angels who follow Satan did, Eve did and Adam did. The prodigal son is never going back to the pig sty and neither are we. Instead, God provided a fleet of life boats to evacuate us from godlessness, ferry us through the valley of tears and return us back to our home with him and his holy family in paradise . God occupies the life boats. The life boats are the holy places that define the escape route of the new exodus through the valley of tears from godlessness to paradise. What makes a place holy? At the holy places, the currency of love is spent. With ordinary currency, the more we spend, the poorer we get. It is a paradox, but, by spending the currency of love, we grow rich. The more we spend, the richer we get. The economy of paradise is based on the currency of love. True happiness here on earth is only found where the currency of love is spent. "Abandon ship! Abandon ship!" is the cry of the Church. "To the lifeboats! To the lifeboats" the Church exclaims. The job of the Church is to sound the alarm. If the exigency is not felt, the Church is not doing its job.

Evacuating the Valley of Tears

Godlessness is a sinking ship. God, however, does not want to save the ship. God wants to save the passengers. Abandon Ship!" "Abandon Ship!" is the cry of our God. "To the lifeboats!" "To the lifeboats!" his Church proclaims. Do you feel the exigency of our dire predicament? Do you feel the ship of godlessness sinking beneath your feet? Our salvation requires that we abandon ship and get into the life boats. God provided a fleet of life boats to evacuate us from godlessness, ferry us through the valley of tears, and return us to our home with God and his holy family in paradise. God occupies the life boats. The life boats are the holy places that define the escape route from godlessness to paradise.  In the life boats, close encounters with the living God take place. There we include God in our lives and God includes us in his. During a close encounter, God transforms us. We cannot transform ourselves. The Church cannot transform us. Only God can. Transformation takes place in the lifeboats. Examples of the lifeboats are the Mass, Confession, the other sacraments, works of charity, acts of kindness, prayer especially the rosary, Eucharistic adoration, feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, fasting, the gathering of two or more together in God's name, bible study, suffering (if we apply love to it), the hour of death, etc. The job of the Church is to sound the alarm. If the exigency is not felt, the Church is not doing its job.

God is not there. Why waste your time going there? God is at the holy places that define the escape route through the valley of tears that takes the new exodus served by the new Moses, the Church, from slavery under the yoke of Pharoah to freedom with God and his holy family in the promised land. God waits for you at the holy places. The holy places are the flotilla of lifeboats that God provides to evacuate us from godlessness, ferry us through the valley of tears, and return us to our home in paradise. "Abandon ship!" "Abandon ship!" is the cry of the Church. "To the life boats!" "To the life boats!" the Church proclaims. Godlessness is a sinking ship. The job of the Church is not to save the ship. The job of the Church is to save the passengers. Let's get the hell out of here. If the exigency is not felt, the Church is not doing its job.

He blazed a trail for us so we can follow it back to him.