I took this photo on the Camino de Santiago and immediately thought of the words Jesus spoke, recorded in Matthew 7:13&14:
Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Or, as The Message version of the Bible puts it:
Don’t look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don’t fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires total attention.
The way to God is vigorous and requires total attention. That challenges me, as the words of Jesus always do. Where might we be following broad, easy paths when we should turn off on the narrow road? In a world where easygoing formulas exist at every hand, our thoughtful attention to the right path requires more of us than ever.
