LEAVE A LIGHT ON

These days, my wife and I won’t travel anywhere, unless each and every night we’re on the road, we know exactly where we’ll be sleeping beforehand. That wasn’t the case years ago. I’d drive until tired and then pull over to take a snooze. Younger folks can still get away with such.

Years ago, Motel 6 had a commercial where spokesperson, Tom Bodette, at the end of his spiel announced, “We’ll leave the light on for you!” Possibly, that’s one of the best advertising slogans to ever come along, because it advocates travel reassurance which is a necessity for older folks like me.

I’ve stayed at Motel 6s throughout the country, partly from hearing that commercial alone, and the other being price. There’s nothing like after a hard day of driving, pulling into a motel or hotel, and being handed a key to your room with no hassle.

When I was more adventurous, I’d simply look for a safe place to park the car or truck, hoping that someone wouldn’t do a drive by shooting while we were resting. On one occasion in Canada, my family woke up to huge buffalo looking in our Chevrolet Blazer windows. That’s still safer than some stray cat in a hoodie toting a Glock doing the same.

There was more than one occasion when we drove for hours, pulling into a town expecting a room and finding “No Vacancy” signs everywhere. I recall one time having to put the family up in a seedy motel directly above a beer joint. Stale cigarette smoke permeated the room, and a jukebox directly below us bellowed until the wee hours of morning.

Now that I’m well into the golden years, not only do I want to know where I’ll be sleeping each and every night, but I want to know the same once I take the biggest trip of my life, and I’m not talking Lake Minnetonka.

Much like Tom Bodette did for weary highway travelers, Jesus Christ does the same for those leaving this world for good. In John 8:12 (NIV) he tells his followers: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

That’s all the assuredness I need for my final journey. After studying various religions during my early years, not once did I find more comforting words than these.