When I was a young boy traveling with our family my dad would occasionally call out to my brother and me, “Look! There’s the old road.” What my father was pointing out were the abandoned stretches of old highways that had become either a frontage road leading to someone’s ranch or had been fenced off and overgrown by brush.

After a few times having my dad point out the old roads, I began to see them for myself and call them out as we sped by. This began a life-long affinity for old roads. Most of our freeway systems today follow the general direction of these old roads. In our hurry to get places we fail to realize the old pathways still exist. Before the old roads were built for vehicle travel, they were used as stage routes, and before that were trails used by trappers and explorers and before that by first nations people.

Every way forward in life is not new. It is only new to the traveler who is moving forward within a new circumstance. Our current roadways of life are built upon trails of faith traveled by those who went before us. To travel through life and think our current path is all that has existed is to miss something important. 

Many of us are traveling a new stretch of life’s road. It is only new and unfamiliar to the current traveler. Under the roadway of our experience is a history waiting to be discovered. In our need to get through this current stretch of life’s roadway as fast as possible, we can miss an important piece of history. It is wise to take time to discover the old roads of faith traveled by those who went before us and who were heading to a similar destination. That discovery will build our faith and let us know we are not alone in our present journey.