Who are you travelling with?
The past six months have seen me unfollowing, cancelling, muting, turning off, and unsubscribing from many of the social media accounts, podcasts, TV shows and movies, music I listen to, and books I read.
Once all the regular life noise was silenced by COVID lockdown, I began to see how much my entertainment sources affected me. Rather than just mindlessly scrolling through feeds, the pandemic exposed who I had been journeying with, rather unaware, for a long time.
The cynicism, anger, or negativity of certain entertainment inputs became about 10 times louder in light of the pandemic. And I had to make changes.
I have always wanted to be one of those people who is unaffected by content but, now I am starting to wonder if anyone like that even exists.
My daughter and I spent the better part of last school year reading Little Pilgrim’s Progress by Helen L Taylor. It is a beautiful children’s adaptation of John’s Bunyan’s 1677 classic.
If you are not familiar with the book, it is an allegory about Christian, who travels from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City by the Way of the King. On the road, he encounters both good and bad characters and experiences triumphs and struggles. He is also sent Help from the King many times.
And, if you read it, you will find that there are not many differences between the challenges faced by Christians in 1677 and those in 2020.
Most of the people Christian meets on the road try to lead him astray. However, he is given two loyal companions who actually help him. Their names are Faithful and Hopeful.
Over the course of Christian’s journey, Faithful and Hopeful serve to remind Christian about the King’s faithfulness in the past, about the words of promise the King has spoken to him, and encourage him to not lose sight of where he is headed.
Bunyan chose the names of these travelling companions intentionally.
But why Faithful and Hopeful?
This book is deep and profound and I feel rather out of my depth here but I will make an attempt to answer this question.
I think Bunyan choses Faith and Hope as travelling companions for Christian because they are gifts we receive from God. They are not things Christian would have found inside himself.
The writer of Hebrews says: “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1) Assurance about what we do not see is not a human thing. It is gift from God that allows us to believe God at His word and trust in His character, no matter what the circumstances.
Hope is about expectation of God’s promises and Faith is about confidence. Hope and Faith believe that there is more than this moment and that suffering does not erode that which God has said He would do nor who He is.
Faith and Hope help Christian to both remember the past but, also, look to the future without despair. And we, too, need God’s gift of them in our life to manage the journey.
So, the question I will ask you is this: who are you travelling with right now and are they Faithful and Hopeful?
Whether we intend to or not - you and I will chose travelling companions on our pilgrimage in life. We are not made to be alone and so we will gather people to us. These companions will have a part in writing our story for good or for bad. They have the ability to draw us towards God, His words, and His truths or away from Him.
In a time when many of us are disconnected from flesh and bones friends and families, church communities, or activities with other humans - we are vulnerable. Whether we want to admit to it or not, we are. We long to connect with people, it is in our nature. And, for many of us, those connections will be found virtually.
John Bunyan’s wisdom would be to chose people (both virtual and real) that are Faithful and Hopeful.
Faithful and Hopeful were gifts to Christian from the King and I believe that God has planted Faithful and Hopeful travelling companions in your life, already.
And, since none of us need any more burdens in this time, I will not charge you with the task of “finding” Faithful and Hopeful people and media.
Instead, I want you to know that I am praying that God would open your eyes to the gifts He has already given you. And that you would be given the courage to turn from inputs in your life that feed your anger, cynicism, doubts, or despair.
In Pilgrim’s Progress, Faithful and Hopeful just crossed paths with Christian one day. He was not tasked with seeking them out but he did have to chose to continue travelling with them or not. My prayer is that you would be able to lean into what God has already provided.
It might be a friend who helps lift your eyes to Jesus that you need to talk with more, a social media account that reminds you of God’s word, or a podcast that reminds you of God’s true character. I have faith that God will lead you to the hope you need.
And so, my fellow pilgrim, may your eyes be open to the good gifts God has given you on this journey, and may you find faith and hope on this strange and wonderful pilgrimage.