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I hope for each of you that your journey on planet earth has been a good one and will continue to be so. One of the conditions that determines the worth of a journey is its destination. I keep on my shelf an old axiom: No wind blows good to a ship which has no destined harbor. It is true of our lives; if we don't know where we're going the starts and stops do not make a difference. Good or bad breaks mean little, for they do not move us along to a destined goal. Life is just one big distraction. We can appreciate the sayings, "I'm just running around in circles," and "You run around like a chicken with its head cut off."


A Kingdom is out there. It is an ideal Kingdom. In it all is grand, free, and just. People are loving there, eager to see everybody bring all talents and skills to fruition. Every member is held to be of great value and lives accordingly. Such a Kingdom seems a dream world, a fantasy land; but, if we are to move on in our lives, doing our best for the highest possible purposes, we need such a vision. Without this vision our efforts become petty. The writer of Proverbs (29:18) realized this when he wrote "Where there is no vision the people perish."


Where are you on your journey? Are you at stage three, fifteen, or seventy-eight or wherever? Where you are today is a major stage, because today is of urgent importance. It will be from today that you keep on gladly or step back, re-order your direction, or make major changes. Some of you are young and will have your direction plotted by others. Most of you are older, and you are either plugging along in a comfortable routine, creating a helter-skelter itinerary, or following a well-thought-out map.


The world offers many maps. Let's look at three that are popular. One shows us that if the journey is to be successful it must begin at birth. Caring parents should preregister the child for the best nursery school. Shortly after that they preregister the child for the best private elementary education. Then prep school. Finally comes admission to Harvard, MIT, or Stanford. Now the journey approaches its destination. Four more years and after that the promised land. The youth gains admission to a prestigious graduate school in law, medicine, or business administration. The kingdom is being besieged and about to be conquered. Life is assured of the best. The journey is over. The remainder of life is reward. One young graduate, just out of business school said "I worked hard for what I enjoy, and I deserve the best." So it is that many children are taught to believe in the modern world.


Does this sound ridiculous? I know a young man who graduated from an outstanding college and applied to law schools. A thick booklet gave the numerical probability of entering various programs according to the cumulative SAT scores. For instance, with a score of 1200 there would be a certain percentage chance of being admitted to Yale Law School. For lesser rated schools the SATs could be lower. Sure enough, he was accepted to a school where his SAT score gave him a high probability of entry. Such mapping is hard-nosed evidence of the right way to big-money success, which, let us make no mistake, is the kingdom that reigns supreme among us.


Road map number two requires travelers to keep an eye out for themselves. Every turn, juncture, bypass, or detour is to be evaluated on the basis of whether it gives us the advantage. We all know why: if we do not look out for ourselves, who will? This trip-tick is easy to master. Just keep an eye on the main chance no matter who stands in your way, turn in that way regardless of the consequences to them. There may be no grand destination, but there are many crucial turns to be made if we are to get ahead. This is the main chance road map.


Road map number three asks us only to believe hard enough. We are guaranteed by whole segments of our society that we can get whatever we want if we believe hard enough. I'm not sure what "believing hard enough" means, but we are taught the story of "The Little Engine that Could" before we can read. I knew a man who graded the validity of his prayer by a tingling sensation in his back as he lay in bed. Certainly he could will himself into the sensation. If we think this way we learn how to turn wherever it feels right. To have good intentions becomes the bottom line.


I recall having perfectly good intentions when I went off to college. I truly "believed hard enough." What I discovered were hundreds of other young people with intentions just as good as mine. In many cases, they were more talented and brighter. It is hard to work our way back to a new starting point after we have moved out on a false premise and followed it for a long, long time.


One major value underlies all these three road maps: one either wins big or loses. Consequently, all three are lined with pitfalls. In road map number one -- the graduated progress toward a major career -- the nursery school just might have run out of places before Sadie was born. She didn't come into the world until a day after full enrollment. Tragedy! Horror! Her entire life is in jeopardy. Or, the car may run out of gas and make the family late for the appointment. The simple accident of being late enters into the record forever. I have known people who insist that they must be a doctor, a lawyer, whatever, or they will take their lives. It is not easy to have to win. The alternative is failure.


In road map number two we wrap ourselves up in ourselves and make a small bundle. Because our sights are on ourselves, we cannot see far beyond our noses. A wrong turn is easy. After several missteps we are frenzied because we no longer have a perspective for gaining our advantage. We missed the main chance. We make desperate short range decisions until at last we are all tied up in short-range programs, working on a short leash.


When we use road map number three, the belief-and-feeling-right map, we find it easy to convince ourselves that what we have already done is what we had always intended to do. "I really wanted to have a small church. People there are friendlier." "I really wanted to work for someone else. I didn't want all that hustle and bustle." We force ourselves to feel good about ourselves regardless of circumstances while inside we are in deep anguish. Excuses must work overtime.


Suppose, just suppose, you have graphed and charted, plotted and planned, and dug in with profound earnestness into a belief system, only to feel lost by a series of little errors mistakes, accidents. Here you are, in the middle of a meadow, like the little train who wanted to be free of the restrictions of the track. You cannot move, because having insisted on being free of all restraints, you do not have the advantage of a track. The best of feelings do not compensate for the fact you are stuck. The destination fades farther and farther away. What you truly need is a set of tracks independent of your self-will. You feel more determined than ever, but deep in your heart, you know you can no longer move toward your goal.


Jesus gives us unusual instructions. Years ago I guess I would never have considered his words seriously. But, I have discovered that they are for real. I ask you to give his instructions your best attention.


Jesus says to let the children keep coming. for the Kingdom belongs only to such as they. Now, we have to ask ourselves, what qualities do children possess that equip them for the Kingdom? To find an answer we have to draw upon our overall knowledge of children and of Jesus' teachings.


1. Children are open. They are free to see, hear, and respond. New situations are met without preconceptions. A child's whole self is open to life. We tickle them at either end, turn them this way and that, and kiss them wherever. There is no shame -- just charming, open intimacy. Now, compare with this the built-in shame we feel toward our bodies and the bodies of others. What barriers have come within and between us?


2. Children trust. They are therefore able to find and enjoy new opportunities with new people. To have this trust taken away is a life-scarring event.


3. Children are adaptable. I learned this well when reading on the subject of adult education. Adults are more sensitive to correction than children. A child, when he says he cannot do it, is told quite firmly "Oh, yes, you can." Pressure is applied to make the child keep trying. An adult, when spoken to this way, may reply, "I'll show you. I quit." Consequently, the child learns new things and the adult does not. Adults have built-in signals to tell them when they are losing face. Shame prevents further experimentation. Children do not quit because of shame.


4. Children do not hold grudges. Healthy children come bouncing back the next day to a teacher or neighbor who corrected or punished them the day before. They extend goodwill.


5. Children try to please, innocently and flexibly.


6. Children can accept gifts. Maybe this is why we love to give to children. They accept the gift, give us hugs, and then run and play. We have not yet trained them in one-upmanship games.


When we ponder what we do know about children and the training we give them, there are many lessons to be drawn for our own journeys. Jesus tells us not to hinder little children. What of ourselves? How do we hinder our own journeys? How were we trained to be defensive, closed, brittle? After all, we are only children who have grown up and who still carry most of the lessons that were taught us.


1. We become cagey, not open. Once hurt, never trusting, but sly, self-protective. Many people become basket cases after a broken relationship. "I'll never trust again," they say sagely, as though they had discovered the secret to living safely.


2. We put conditions on life. We say to life, "Guarantee my success before I put out too much." Risk-free living -- that is what we want, yet without risks there would be no great love stories, no art, no science, no discovery, no life -- no journey.


3. We become inflexible. We learn one technique for getting by -- say anger -- and after a while everyone is afraid to confront us because they want to avoid our anger. People skirt around us, and there is no journeying into new or deeper relationships.


4. We carefully hold on to grudges. We get even, but what we forget is that by holding the other prisoner to our anger, we must be the prison guard. We cannot move on with lightness of heart, gladsome steps, nor freedom to enjoy the marvels of the world or other people as long as we have to be guards.


5. Finally, we learn to be suspicious. We hold every part of life up to the microscope of ourselves.


In all these ways we hinder our journeys. There is a common denominator in each of these examples: we want life with no risks. We learn early not to be vulnerable. We cannot tackle life openly, freely, with self-respect and self-affirmation, because, before we venture on we insist on signs of success, or at least guarantees that we won't be hurt or put on the spot.


The reverse side of a poor journey is Jesus counsel on how to make a good one to the Kingdom. To do this we must assume the same qualities as children possess. Within the open charm of children is a key that is an ‘‘open sesame" to doors that block our way -- the freedom to be vulnerable. Great strength or profound innocence is required to be vulnerable. As we yearn to be truly strong, we must always remain open. Risks must be taken to bring our talents and powers out of the storehouse of our private treasury. Child-like trust in God is demanded if we are to find the reality of what is within us and what is before us, and the skill and power to put them to work together. To be able to yoke ourselves with others and with new possibilities is a precious privilege. When we are as children, we remain adaptable, flexible. We achieve a mature skill -- the freedom to move ahead whatever the obstacles before us, move ahead whether we go straight, around, under, or over. We make forward motion. We do not hold on to pride, keep battering our heads against the odds. We move into new ways, profoundly trusting of life, and convinced of our worth no matter what the obstacles that face us. The obstacles evaporate, and we find ourselves on the other side, moving on.


As children, we let go of grudges. Disagreements from the past do not prevent us from being free to move ahead. Excess baggage is discarded. We can put our energy into constructive efforts. We move past a threatening intersection and approach the Kingdom. The priceless gift of other persons and of fresh possibilities become ours once we are free to be vulnerable. Finally, as children we are able to accept gifts: nature, people, talents, joys, pain, and our Lord Jesus. We give thanks for everything, the good and bad. So at last, learning how to give thanks not only for the good but also for what seems unbearable at the time, we move into vast expanses of our knowledge of life and God. No matter what, we are learning how always to make forward progress.


So it will be that when we come to the door of the Kingdom, we will have no bulky burdens on our shoulders to hamper our entering, no treasures we feel we must hold on to. We drop regrets and self-pity. Recriminations against life disappear; we make no bargains with life simply because we worked hard; and no false attitudes slow us down. Stripped for the journey, having cast off all baggage -- the encumbering weight of our "treasures"--we enter into that marvelous place where all in us is transformed into the wonders Christ sees in us and holds out to us.


Jesus' way to the Kingdom promises us a reliable road map. His great Good News expands options for delight because as we win, others win also. The more they win, the finer the experience of the Kingdom for us all. The more the better. Thank you, God, thank you, for the journey, the fellow-journeyers, and at last, the Kingdom!