Road spirituality

I THINK it’s about time that we be more aware of what we may term as “road spirituality.” The idea struck me when I read Vatican’s most recent

document, “Guidelines for the Pastoral Care of the Road.” The good thing about documents like this is that they gather and express in very high resolution, fleeting thoughts, insights, observations, etc. we can have about our experiences on the road.

It’s amazing to realize how these passing impressions can have many and serious implications. Besides, they introduce us to more interesting relevant issues.

Obviously, the road is an integral part of our life. Just try to pause to think of how much time you spend there, and of what things have occurred there, and you’ll see that the road indeed occupies a significant, even crucial, part in our life.

Truth is mobility is unavoidable in our life. And as we develop more, our need for mobility also increases. It cannot be any other way.

The document deserves to be studied thoroughly by everyone, but especially by bishops, priests and other pastoral care workers. It increases our sensitivity to our pastoral and spiritual duties while on the road.

It is a richly nuanced yet unified consideration of things, from the biblical to the spiritual and moral, from the psychological to the ecological and social, etc. Everything is linked to its religious relevance in our life.

The document happily covers a wide range of concerns. There are four main parts dedicated to the pastoral care for road users, for street women (prostitutes and customers), for street children, and for the homeless (tramps).

In each part, there is a substantial and meaningful discussion of many interesting issues, always relating them to how our relationship should be with God and with one another.

I must admit that I’m learning a lot from this eye-opener of a document. I believe I express the sentiments of many who tend to take for granted the importance of our trips and travels in general.

What usually happens is that these travels get completely relegated to the background as we are only interested and are completely dominated by the immediate reasons why those trips are made.

But our trips and time on the road are not merely human actions that are automatic, like our breathing and heartbeat. They are human acts that entail our deliberate use of intelligence and freedom.

They necessarily involve a certain morality. Much of our human drama takes place on these travels. Even our eternal destiny to a large extent depends on them. They should not be taken for granted.

In fact, in the first part of the document, there is a discussion about the psychological aspect of driving. Many moral questions are involved. A number of dangerous attitudes and sinful practices are mentioned.

For example, driving can mask our urge to escape from everyday reality, to
act out our domination instinct, our vanity and personal glorification.

Driving can unleash the pent-up evil tendencies we manage to hide when we are in our usual places. It can be a treacherously disruptive element in our life.

Thus, the document proposes some ethical considerations, and even a kind of “Ten Commandments” of driving. It also suggests that road safety education be conducted to target audiences in a continuing way.

These together with the other parts on street women, street children and the homeless make up a strong reason why we should develop a “road spirituality.”

We have to be aware of the proper attitudes and habits we ought to have while making a trip to combat the usual temptations and moral dangers while on the road. We need to be wary of what would comprise as sinful omissions while traveling.

Driving can be a great occasion to pray, to practice mortification, and to be generous in living out charity to God and others.

This “road spirituality” can add up to more consistency and effectiveness in our life. We cannot deny that our impressive spiritual and moral gains while we are with the family and at work can just go the drain when we are on the road.