The “Straight and Narrow” is often used to describe the path to heaven by Christians. Taken from a line in The Sermon on the Mount, you may not be surprised to hear that the “straight and narrow” is a paraphrasing that just took root in common language. The actual verse reads more like, “But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
I will let the Christians have their paraphrasing. There are many scholars, more qualified than I, who can mull over the translation for weeks. I am more concerned with the phrase that we are familiar with and have imprinted in our moral codex: The Straight and Narrow.
Why is this even important? It’s just a phrase, and who actually tries to walk this path anyway? “Only a few find it,” after all. It’s important because we are all looking for where it goes, whether we can walk through the gate, stay on the path, or even find the trailhead. We want what is at the end: happiness, success, meaning, purpose. A life good enough that if you believe in an afterlife, you would get to spend it in the good place, and if you don’t, you likely left the world a little better through your efforts.
Why is the path straight? Wouldn’t a winding one be harder?
The path is straight because it isn’t there to confuse you or get you lost. It is straight because it is easy to see where you should be going. We like to make things complicated, and sometimes the right choices just seem too obvious, and many times they are. That doesn’t make them easy, still.
The path is said to be straight, not flat, not smooth, not free of debris or obstacles, just straight. Whenever you encounter these difficult patches on the path, it is easy to look for a detour that allows for easier traveling, and detours do exist, but they take your charted course out of your line of sight. Your goal shifts from simply walking straight to your destination to trying to find your way back to the path. When you get lost enough, you may be tempted to look for another destination entirely, hoping it will still get you where you want to go. Sadly, it won’t. The path was straight; there was only one way.
Often, the right thing to do is the harder thing and that’s just to stay on the path. It demands a little more of us: work, accountability, and focus. Foregoing the easy rewards. Most likely, the right choice won’t be the most rewarding either.
Straight paths can be pretty boring; they don’t require much creativity, they don’t have many choices, they seem scripted, and the scenery can start to blend after a while. They can be lonely as you watch others take detours that seem like the better choice, or at least more interesting and less challenging.
I heard stories from truck drivers about how maddening it can be to drive in parts of middle America. One driver spent a few minutes telling me how he loathes Oklahoma City, not for the place, but the drive into the city. Especially if you are approaching at night, the flat terrain means that you can see the city lights for much farther away than you are used to if driving anywhere else with hills. He described feeling frustration, anxiety, and mild insanity as time passed, driving at sixty miles per hour, ten, twenty, thirty minutes, and still feeling as if he was in the same spot, miles away from the destination. He felt as if time itself was distorted. A straight, flat path can be hard on your mind.
It takes commitment to your mission to stay on the straight path, no matter the grade. It takes conscious effort to find the joy of the journey and appreciate the comfort of moving in one direction. You’ll need that mission, though. So what is waiting for you at your destination?
How narrow are we talking?
To stay on a straight path, it is just eyes ahead and keep moving. A narrow path means that there are boundaries that you have to work to stay within. The path can be smooth, but if it is narrow, it can be treacherous. One step off the path and you could stumble, trip, or fall to your doom. It takes attention to your steps to ensure you are on a safe footing. It takes attention to your surroundings to understand the risk of missing the path.
Sometimes the edge is kind, it can even have guardrails. You could afford to miss a step or two. Sometimes a bad step can cause you to roll an ankle. Sometimes, there is a sheer drop and you can’t see the bottom. If you aren’t paying attention, you risk misjudging how wrong things can go.
This edge dictates your pace. When things are easy, you can move faster; when they are treacherous, you move slowly. It also determines your vision. There are times when you need to be laser-focused on every step, keeping your attention and line of sight on exactly where you are and making a safe next single step. When things are a bit easier, you can look farther ahead and see what is coming. This allows you to breathe, anticipate, and plan.
Steps are your actions, each one important in moving you, and each requiring attention, energy, and slight inherent risk. Like walking, there are systems throughout us that make the intricacies of each step natural. Muscle memory sets in, strength can grow and wane, and experience helps you move with less thought.
Lastly, it is hard to walk beside someone through the narrowest parts of life. Sometimes you will need to lead, and sometimes you will need to follow. Rarely do you walk side by side with others.
So how narrow? It varies, but rest assured, it will be treacherous at times simply to stay on the path. In eyeing your surroundings, you will be tempted by the same detours that promise easier progress. They are wider, more forgiving, more manicured around the edges, and can allow for more to join you, but they are not the path you are called to walk; they are the distraction that keeps you from reaching your destination.
So where does this path lead?
The destination is described as the perfect place. Whether that is Heaven, Nirvana, or Valhalla, it isn’t particularly important to describe the place for you, because it is yours alone. The fact is, the path is simply living a good life. It minimizes regrets, it offers the most potential for true happiness, and leaves an impact larger than that of someone with no direction or calling. No matter what that destination is, there is a single, straight, and narrow path to get there; there will be obstacles and distractions to tempt you away, but they come at a cost.
It’s ok to pause. Stop and check your map and progress, see the beauty around you in detail and up close, or even just rest. It is great to stop and smell the roses, just don’t stop for too long.
Because, like any good day’s hike, you want to be back before the sun sets, and the sun will go down on us all at some point. You want to be at your destination before nightfall. When darkness comes, it is best that you arrive at shelter so you are not left to fend for yourself in the unknown. Took a detour? Who knows where that shelter will be? Didn’t get far enough down the path? You may not arrive at your intended destination. Sometimes, people get lucky. The rescue crews are sent out, and we may wake up exactly where we needed to be only by luck and grace.
Finding the path
We all know where the straight and narrow path is. We know what we should be doing. We know what is right and wrong, though we spend a lot of time arguing it to avoid the responsibility and discomfort of doing what is right. We conflate the right thing with what is best for us. The right thing produces the least misery for everyone. The right thing protects our future selves. The right thing, hard as it can be, is looked back on with contentment and not regret.
No matter where you are today, you started on the straight and narrow path, and you can continue on it whenever you choose. No matter what detour you took, there is a way back. It may take effort and time, but you can. Sometimes it may mean mending your surroundings or forgoing the easy trail you took. These detours can run parallel, so you may not be as far off course, but any deviation will not get you to the destination.
While all our straight and narrow paths are defined, they are not all alike. We have our own path to walk. While your path may intertwine with others’, it will have its own unique challenges and obstacles.
So look around, are you on the straight and narrow path?