On the Wrong side of the Road - What I Missed in my Trip to India

The first thing that made me realize when I was in India that I was ‘really’ in India was when I took our car from our home when to the main road and saw a another car farther down the road driving towards me, to my utter shock, on the same side of the road. I wondered what on earth the other guy was dong on the wrong side of the road. It was then it struck me that it was I that was on the wrong side of the road. In the roads in India, ‘right is wrong and left was right’, following the British we drive on the left side of the road.

I had a 10 day vacation but I was travelling for 4 of those days. I took 8 flights in total. I spent 6 days with my family. During my stay in India, I missed two aspects of my life the US the Church SJD and my motorcycle. I have seen churches where the Truth is deep but the fellowship is cold, there are churches where the people are warm and affectionate but the Truth is shallow. SJD is a very unique church in that it has a great combination of the Truth of God and an affectionate godly congregation. I missed SJD, especially on Sundays.

The philosophers tell us that death is the universal equalizer. In my experience I find that the Church is the universal equalizer. One can travel as far away as one can from their home, walk into a new Church and be welcome as though it were ones home Church. One can go to a nation where everything is different, from driving on the road to eating with a fork. One may even drive on the wrong side of the road but feel ‘right’ deep inside one self once one enters the Church. After all the Church is the metaphysical home to the wandering soul which seeks its solace in the metaphysical Body of Christ.

That I am able to feel one with the mystical body of Christ even as I am farthest from home is, to me, an existential proof of the living Lord. But for the fact that Christ died on the cross, I wouldn’t find for myself at home in the Church half way across the globe, neither would the Church be the universal equalizer.

On my way back, I thought I would find it hard to return from India to the US. But in an inexplicable way I did not find it as hard as I thought it would be. A BIG part of me was longing to be at SJD and then to ride my motorcycle on the 59. A BIG part of my wished to go back to the Right side of the road, and that I did when I took my motorcycle on the 59 last and clocked 90mph. I was glad to be on the right side of the road.

It was then I realized that Houston had somehow become my second home. I find this to be a huge irony because When I was asked by my company to go over to the US, I hated it. In fact, I took drastic measures to avoid having to go over to the US, but God worked it His way to bring me to the right side of the road. If there is something in my life here which has made Houston as my second home, it is SJD and that folks at SJD. I am thankful to God that He has given me the grace to be a part of this blessed Church.