Daily Devotion by Bea Broder-Oldach

For a number of years, I commuted from Anderson Township to my work a few blocks from Good Shepherd. I traveled all manners of routes, trying to find an easy drive which would allow me to prepare myself for the new day, and give enough space to unwind a bit on the way home. Many days, the trip was stressful, and I longed for a way to transform the journey from the soul drain of navigating traffic into a time of centering and reflection. Then one day I overheard someone mention a short cut across the hills that rise above the Little Miami along Route 50. That tip would change everything. 

Muchmore Road cuts into the nearby hills, winding through a deciduous forest everchanging with each season. While cars make the climb or descent between the high and low points, deer can sometimes be seen migrating through the woods on either side. Birds nest in the trees, laying eggs and feeding their young from the abundance within the forest floor. At different points along the way, sunlight breaks through the treetops, displaying splendid patterns with varied intensities as the day expands into the night. Traveling along Muchmore Road requires a certain vigilance in the two-way traffic that fits perfectly in the paved space. Even so, there is a sense of pilgrimage here, in the way a hiker gingerly crosses a ravine all the while taking in the larger expanse of creation. As my car moves along the roadway, the rush of the day gives way to a deeper peace and safety beneath the arching canopy of leaves and branches, in the gentleness of a spring rain, or the freshness of a flurry of snow. Always there is something new unfolding in the forest, along the road and in me. 

I find the beauty of God’s artistry along Muchmore Road to be transformative and restorative, about calm and peace. Day by day, season by season, Muchmore Road reveals God’s unfolding creativity, making all things new, making me new. These scenes prepare my heart in new and unexpected ways, connecting me into the sacred that surrounds us and abides within each one of us. In the hills rising up from the Miami valley, I find an ever-deepening desire to step away from what is stale in life and embrace God’s gift of an ever-expanding faith able to transform life’s twisting pathways into a way of the Lord that can only be Muchmore.

As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, “See I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’ “   Mark 1:2-3 NRSV

2 comments on article "Daily Devotion by Bea Broder-Oldach"

Danelle Marie Buelsing

Bea, you described the beauty and tranquility of Muchmore Road so elegantly. It is my favorite part of the trip to and from church.

12/8/2021 12:05 AM

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bea

Danelle, makes me

Smile to think we are sharing the journey as we travel Muchmore Rd.

12/9/2021 8:40 AM

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