What on earth does driving to work every day have to do with your faith in Christ? You are probably thinking about needing faith do put up with all of the crazy drivers or if you are in a fatal accident. What I have in mind doesn't involve any of those.

This last Sunday, my minister was discussing how mundane our faith and church can be during the year between special holidays such as Christmas and Easter. Since I'm in the church choir, I can vouch for the great amount of time to practice and perform the special music for Easter. We had in addition to our choir, a brass choir, kettle drums, and concluded the service with Handel's Hallelujah Chorus. The sanctuary was decorated with flowers, and there were too many people for the seats available forcing many people to stand during both services. Last Sunday, there were plenty of seats available. Why? Because we have returned back to our mundane routine. As I listened to the minister preach, I made the comparison of our faith and commuting to work.

We drive to work and back home every day. This routine is called commuting. If you are anything like me, I know the route extremely well. Many times I think the car knows the way also. I use the time to brush up on my memory work for Commandry, or listen to the radio to break the boredom. I see numerous people use the cell phone to relieve their boredom as they drive to work. There are some commuting facts that I have observed.

• I know the route extremely well
• Although the drive is boring, I always go the same way, unless there are intervening circumstances
• I know every alternative route in case my main route is blocked.
• Accidents, adverse weather conditions, breakdowns and roadwork are a pain but make the drive more exciting.

Our Faith is a lot like driving to work. Now our faith is not a constant, but has ups and downs, crests and troughs. The Gospel of St. Mark in Chapter 11 alludes to this theory by describing Jesus' entry into Jerusalem as an exciting time. Crowds of people lined the streets shouting Hosanna! Where these people in Chapter 15 during Jesus trial and crucifixion? Talk about crest and waves.

Our faith is the strongest during the emotional times like holidays, marriage, baptisms, or funerals. Most of the time, our faith, unless challenged or discussed, remains in the background, mostly a foundation of facts instead of emotion. A boring, mundane but reliable foundation for whom we are and what we do.

Most of us know our religion well enough to base our faith on it. Just like we know the way to work. Sometimes when our faith is tested do we tend to seek out alternative ways. But most of time, like commuting, we stick to the tried and true routes that have proven reliable.

Our lives are full of unforeseeable circumstances that challenge us as Christians. Just like snow and ice on the roads. We go slow, careful, and concentrate upon our driving. It is an exciting and scary time, worried that our car might slide off the road or into another car. And when we do get to work, the topic of conversation is the difficulty of driving to work. Everyone tries to top the other's story with their feats of driving, avoiding accidents. Our faith is like that. When it is challenged, a life's snow day so to speak, we go slow and careful; double checking with pastor, priest, or bible and using prayer to make our journey less scary. Then when we are through the crisis, we tend to focus upon the event, and not how our faith guided us through.

Sometimes the vehicle in which we are commuting breaks down, and we are late or do not arrive at work that day. Although it is an extreme aggravation, it is also exciting. We now have to solve the problem of getting our car out of traffic and to a garage to be repaired. Some times things in our lives become broken down such as relationships changing due to divorce, drugs, alcoholism, or mental illness. Sometimes we can repair them, sometimes not, but our faith helps us through these ordeals.

When our excitement of the accident, inclement weather, break down, or road work is over, we are extremely glad to get back to our good old boring commute so we know we will arrive at the expected time without incident.

We now can make comparisons:

• I know my way of established faith well.
• Although church is often boring, I always go the same church and service with out trying others.
• I know my alternative times when I can go to church if something happens. Besides, special services during Christmas and Easter are alternatives.
• Events that challenge me in life makes me fall back upon my faith stronger than ever.

Yours in Christ,

Sam Witherup -
Prelate Hanselmann Commandery No.16, Knights Templar