Evans' series began with The Walk, the story of a Seattle ad man, Alan, who looses his wife and his business. His response to the crisis was to begin walking... from Seattle to Key West. The first book takes him on foot from Seattle to Spokane... the place where I currently live. The second book, Miles to Go, follows Alan's journey from Spokane, Washington to Custer, South Dakota. Book three, The Road to Grace, continues his walk from Custer, South Dakota to St. Louis, Missouri. I won't spoil the plot, but in it's final pages I read Alan's words and knew that they were meant for me... something to remember when I'm not sure why things are unfolding around me the way they are.
For most of my life I have thought of grace as a hope of a bright tomorrow in spite of the darkness of today--and this is true. In this way we are all like Pamela, walking a road to grace--hoping for mercy. What we fail to realize is that grace is more than our destination, it is the journey itself, manifested in each breath and with each step we take. Grace surrounds us, whirls about us like the wind, falls on us like rain. Grace sustains us on our journeys, no matter how perilous they may be and, make no mistake, they are all perilous. We need not hope for grace, we merely need to open our eyes to its abundance. Grace is all around us, not just in the hopeful future but in the miracle of now. Richard Paul Evans, The Road to Grace, p. 232.
How do we see grace around us? How to we receive it? How do we live it out? This must be what a life's journey is all about. And what is so lacking in the world around us.
Now I have to wait until Spring 2013 for the fourth book to come out... but until then I have a lot to think about and a lot to do. I'm sure it will be worth the wait.
Peace, Deb
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