Milestones
40-40-90-30-60
Those numbers aren't the combination to my safe (I don't have one), nor are they a set of anatomical measurements (height, weight, or girth). They represent significant commemorations in 2006:
40 years as an ordained minister (April 1966)
40 years of marriage (August 1966)
90 years of life for my mother (August 1916)
30 years in Madeira (we arrived here Dec. 3, 1976)
60 years on earth (I arrived here Dec. 8, 1946)
I thought of the milestones that used to be so common here. By the middle of the 20th century a coastal road had been built all around the island, oftentimes literally carved into the side of steep seacliffs. Madeira is 35 miles long by 13 miles wide (approx. 55 km by 20 km), but the "coastal road" had to wind around mountains and up into the steep valleys so much that with all the curves, Highway 1 (and practically the only one for many years) was 200 km (134 miles)long. Starting at Funchal, going counter-clockwise around the island, "milestones" (more properly kilometerstones) let travelers know how far they had come, and therefore, how much road was left to complete the circle of 200 km back to Funchal. Besides telling you what road you were on (E.N. 1=National Highway 1), the markers let you know what villages were coming up next, and the distance to them in tenths of a kilometer, i.e., to the nearest 100 meters.
Kilometer 15, east of Funchal;
1.6 kilometers to Santa Cruz.
On our side of the island, these original markers are hard to find nowadays: the original, narrow, cobblestone highway has been widened and paved with asphalt; rock walls guarding the edge of road have been replaced. Much of the old highway disappeared with the building of a 4-lane highway, and remaining sections are abandoned or rarely used. Perhaps, in these stretches, a few of the markers are still left, but some, like the one shown above, are practically overgrown.
The intermediate tenths of a kilometer were marked with small stones, as shown here. Kilometer 11.7
40-40-90-30-60: 2006 was full of milestones for us. But milestones on the highway only tell us how far we've come; they don't say anything about how we got there, whether we were speeding, or had a flat tire, or got lost and had to turn around to get back on the right road, or if we walked or rode a bicycle. Life is about how we get from one milestone to the next. Our accounting to God on the final day is not about how many milestones we reached, but whether we got there in the way that pleased Him.
And there's an important difference to note: a highway marker can tell us how much farther it is to our destination, but my calendar only tells me that 2006 will end in less than 2 weeks. It doesn't tell me how far into 2007 or beyond I have left to travel before reaching the final destination. Each day is an intermediate destination; as we reach the end of each day may we have travelled in a way that has pleased God.
Those numbers aren't the combination to my safe (I don't have one), nor are they a set of anatomical measurements (height, weight, or girth). They represent significant commemorations in 2006:
40 years as an ordained minister (April 1966)
40 years of marriage (August 1966)
90 years of life for my mother (August 1916)
30 years in Madeira (we arrived here Dec. 3, 1976)
60 years on earth (I arrived here Dec. 8, 1946)
I thought of the milestones that used to be so common here. By the middle of the 20th century a coastal road had been built all around the island, oftentimes literally carved into the side of steep seacliffs. Madeira is 35 miles long by 13 miles wide (approx. 55 km by 20 km), but the "coastal road" had to wind around mountains and up into the steep valleys so much that with all the curves, Highway 1 (and practically the only one for many years) was 200 km (134 miles)long. Starting at Funchal, going counter-clockwise around the island, "milestones" (more properly kilometerstones) let travelers know how far they had come, and therefore, how much road was left to complete the circle of 200 km back to Funchal. Besides telling you what road you were on (E.N. 1=National Highway 1), the markers let you know what villages were coming up next, and the distance to them in tenths of a kilometer, i.e., to the nearest 100 meters.
Kilometer 15, east of Funchal;
1.6 kilometers to Santa Cruz.
On our side of the island, these original markers are hard to find nowadays: the original, narrow, cobblestone highway has been widened and paved with asphalt; rock walls guarding the edge of road have been replaced. Much of the old highway disappeared with the building of a 4-lane highway, and remaining sections are abandoned or rarely used. Perhaps, in these stretches, a few of the markers are still left, but some, like the one shown above, are practically overgrown.
The intermediate tenths of a kilometer were marked with small stones, as shown here. Kilometer 11.7
40-40-90-30-60: 2006 was full of milestones for us. But milestones on the highway only tell us how far we've come; they don't say anything about how we got there, whether we were speeding, or had a flat tire, or got lost and had to turn around to get back on the right road, or if we walked or rode a bicycle. Life is about how we get from one milestone to the next. Our accounting to God on the final day is not about how many milestones we reached, but whether we got there in the way that pleased Him.
And there's an important difference to note: a highway marker can tell us how much farther it is to our destination, but my calendar only tells me that 2006 will end in less than 2 weeks. It doesn't tell me how far into 2007 or beyond I have left to travel before reaching the final destination. Each day is an intermediate destination; as we reach the end of each day may we have travelled in a way that has pleased God.
posted by EP | 12:56 AM | Permalink
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