#3 The Red River, Winnipeg: Dipping Our Wheels? Probably Better Not.

I’ve been asked several times, “Has a journey like yours been done before?” I’m not actually sure. I’m reading a book right now called The All-Red Route. It’s the story of how an English writer named Wilby and an American mechanic named Haney attempted to drive all the way from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It was called the ‘Red Route’ because Commonwealth countries were always shown in red on maps and this was the first attempt to make the crossing entirely within Canada. They starting by dipping the back wheels of their brand new 1912 Reo (built in St. Catherines) into the ocean at Halifax. I know they ended up dipping their front wheels into the Pacific at Vancouver but in between I think they had to train their car for a ways because there just weren’t any roads. But I still haven’t finished the book.

It would really be amazing to be the first person to dip the wheels of their vehicle in Lake Erie in the south, the Atlantic Ocean out east, and then the Arctic and the Pacific. To be honest, my heart jumps at the idea of setting a new world record or being the first person to accomplish something. But whenever my brain starts moving in that direction, I get a warning in my spirit not to go there. I’m pretty sure it’s because I have a weakness in which something like that tends to creep up into the top righthand chamber of my heart. The chamber I’ve reserved for the Lord Jesus and him alone.

I know that if we do succeed in making a giant loop around Canada and visit every province and territory on the way, or make it to every ocean surrounding the country, or drive to all the extremities of the compass it would give me a lot of joy. But I want to keep it at joy. My only one real goal is something that I myself will not achieve. And I’m only one in quite a crowd that desires for it to happen. We did something to symbolize it before we left the Forks. I poured some grape juice into the Red River. Then, with some still left in the bottle I added water from the Red to replace what I had poured out. I noticed that the mixture was still almost as red as when I had started. I want to keep repeating pouring and replacing from The Great Lakes and from Sea to Sea to Sea as we go, until all the waters of this land are mixed together with the symbolic blood of Christ. All to express our one desire to see God bring his cleansing and healing and unity to every corner of our nation. May it be.



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