I’ve got shotgun! Am I the only one that has yelled that while sprinting to beat your siblings to the front seat of the car? I doubt it! I imagine the fight for what could be considered the best seat in the car has been around as long as car travel itself. For me, calling shotgun is most closely associated with a big ol’ roadtrip. I recently had the opportunity to go on one of those roadtrips! The coast to coast kind and I wanted to share a little bit about that journey and some of the thoughts I had in reflection.

Virginia —> Washington (again)

Here’s a fact for your day (if you already knew this good on ya!) the idea of a “shotgun rider” originated in the days of the stagecoach. Due to the high possibility of robbery, Indian attack, wild animals, etc. many stage coach services would hire an extra hand to go alongside the driver carrying, you guessed it, a shotgun in order to provide protection to the passengers and their cargo. Unlike the passenger princesses of today, these shotgun riders and stagecoach passengers had anything but a “royal experience” like we often take for granted today. Think about it, where the shotgun rider of 200 years ago would quite literally be risking their life for the job, the 2024 passenger really carries one main responsibility: set the vibes! Choose the right playlist and navigate to the nearest coffee shop along the planned route. Back then, if you were fortunate enough to afford a first class ticket (if it were even offered in the first place) you would still endure dangers of disease, attack, lack of adequate food, the tight space, the unpredictable weather conditions, and so much more. A first class ticket along the length of the Oregon trail could have cost the equivalent of close to $30,000 today! Due to high cost and a lack of better options, most would travel at a lower class and be expected to walk up steep inclines, assist with damaged stagecoach parts, push stuck wagons out of the mud, and other less than enjoyable tasks. As I comfortably cruised across the country with the cold AC hitting my face, all by myself (solo traveling = a very modern concept), with minimal planning or supplies I couldn’t help but compare my own solo trek with the experiences of early westward travel in America.

This same trip 200 years ago likely would have taken weeks (if not months) to plan. It would involve selling nearly all possessions, saying goodbye to everyone and everything you know, for the possibility (not even a guarantee) of making it out west. I took nicely paved roads (except for Indiana… I don’t think those roads have changed much since the 1800s. Yes, I hate on Indiana a lot, I don’t really know why…), listened to a great mix of music, books, podcasts, FaceTimed friends / family, stopped for fresh coffee and food whenever I felt the need, and the list could go on. I drove across the country in just a few days to celebrate the wedding of Connor and Quinn (congrats y’all!!) with only the slightest amount of inconvenience. A little car trouble put me a day behind, but even still I got to a garage and let a licensed mechanic fix my car while I walked to a local coffee shop and worked on my computer. I know, I really had it rough. My luxurious trip (I mean I did sleep in my car and went through a few days with little to no cell service, but come on even that is better than the days of olde wagon trains!) led me to wonder if I would have been so inclined to attempt this trip in the days of westward expansion. My choice to drive the thousands of miles on my own (while many might still think it is a bit crazy and maybe it is, but that is beside the point) didn’t bring with it much stress. I never had to worry about carrying enough food or that I might run into bad weather. I could have also just chosen to fly instead and arrived in a day. The point is that my choice to journey into the west carried very little weight. What led the people of history to brave the hardships and struggles of such a journey where many of them might not even make it to the end? While many were looking for success, perhaps the promise of gold, or maybe just a new adventure, I think that one word could be used to describe the motivation towards the westward expeditions: Hope. Why would anyone risk their relationships, wealth, health, or worse? Only for hope. The hope or expectation that there is something better ahead. Hope is the only reason to move forward. We move forward because we believe that we are heading toward something superior than what we leave behind. One wagon train rider journaled,

“Raining all day...and the boys are all soaking wet and look sad and comfortless. The little ones and myself are shut up in the wagons from the rain. Still it will find its way in and many things are wet; and take us all together we are a poor looking set, and all this for Oregon...I am thinking as I write,

Oh Oregon, you must be a wonderful country”

- Amelia Stewart Knight, June 1, 1853

In 2024, we have “conquered the west”. Our lives have become comfortable well beyond the belief of those who came before us. We have extracted the resources of the land and taken full advantage of all the world has to offer. We made it. Life for humans has never been better (since the fall at least). So… Now what? How can it be that we look around the world and see such a wild place? Haven’t we moved beyond the “wild west”? Our modern successes, while greatly increasing our standard of life, have offered little to no benefit to our deepest desires. To have purpose, to know truth, to know real love.

“When a person can't find a deep sense of meaning, they distract themselves with pleasure”

- Viktor Frankl, Psychiatrist & Holocaust survivor

Does that sound like the modern western world? This has been a long time coming. The atheist German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, recognized the downward trajectory of humanity as early as 1882. Nietzsche saw the increasingly secularization of the west, specifically in western Europe at the time, as a slippery slope into nihilism. In his famous quote, “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us?” he rightly assessed that apart from a belief in God, the world has no ultimate meaning. To clarify, Nietzsche did not believe that there was a God that existed and is now actually dead, but that the concept of a God or gods that govern the universe had been “murdered” by our modern discoveries in science and philosophy. In a world of chance, there is no purpose, no truth, and no real love. Hope for a better future is gone. How do we go on? We made it to the end and realized there was nothing there. We have the absolute best the world has to offer and yet we seem to be the most unsatisfied generation to have ever lived. According to a 2023 Gallup poll,

“The percentage of U.S. adults who report having been diagnosed with depression at some point in their lifetime has reached 29.0%, nearly 10 percentage points higher than in 2015.” View Article

It seems the west has been on a trajectory to crash for many years now. I think we are nearing a tipping point. Tensions are high and hope is low. The hope of this world alone could never be enough motivation to carry on. When I observe the world and I see the tragedy and chaos of a people who have lost their purpose and replaced true meaning with distracting and fleeting pleasures, I am heartbroken. Why do our depressions rates keep rising? How could that person walk into a school and murder defenseless children? How could that police officer abuse his power like that? If that person gets elected, the world might actually cease to exist! I’m sure many of us have had these same thoughts at some point recently. So how did I get to this depressing point? Weren’t we just talking about a roadtrip across the United States? What is going on?? What is the solution? As a Christian, I believe that everything was created on purpose, for a purpose, by a loving God that, get this, is still alive!

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.”

- Colossians 1:15-23, Read full chapter

How is it possible that someone could do such terrible acts? Truth does not dwell in them. They have bought into the lie that “god is dead”. Exchanging that truth for a lie is a dangerous road. All things are permissible when there is no ultimate authority. The true Christian has repented and been reconciled to Christ for His purpose. Understanding this purpose should lead a Christian to stand out in the crowd. While the world groans and laments the tragedy of the present and the uncertainty of the future, the Christian should be marked with a peace that surpasses understanding. The Christian must not get caught up in the worries of tomorrow because we know who holds all things. In the current sufferings of this world, we have truth that lives within us and others should see His light through the actions of our lives. May I never take a second for granted. May I look for every opportunity to praise God. May I walk in a manner worthy of my calling, taking every day as another opportunity share the hope that lives within me, a testimony to the truth that is still alive. The Christian has hope to move on because we are moving toward something so much better than we could ever imagine. While the world can often bring crushing weight with each new tragedy, I know that I am not yet home. I look forward to the day that Jesus returns and makes all things right. The day that I walk on streets of gold with my ultimate purpose finally in plain sight, no longer dimmed by the distractions of a world heading the opposite direction. For now I walk through each day exclaiming…

“Oh New Jerusalem, you must be a wonderful country”