By Danny Minton

My hometown has changed a lot since we moved there in the winter of 1954/55. At that time, the population of Plano, Texas, was hovering around 3,000 people. The 1950 census stood at 2,126, and by 1960, it would quickly burst at the seams, reaching 3,694. The population today is estimated at around 300,000, or roughly 81 times larger than when I entered Junior High School. 

I drive through the old downtown area and see stores that I grew up with now serving a new generation. The memories behind the walls of the buildings are just memories that have given way to new desires and lifestyles. However, one thing has not changed: the red brick road. I hope they never change it. It’s the one thing that makes downtown like the one I remember. It’s the one thing that says to me, “Welcome home.”

One of the movies that many of us have watched over the years is “The Wizard of Oz.” In our minds, we picture the “Yellow Brick Road” that leads Dorothy to the Emerald City and the key to returning home. Along the road, she meets others who join her journey, all with needs and wishes for the Wizard to fulfill. Her journey back to life at home began with the Munchkins directing her to “Follow the Yellow Brick Road.” 

However, did you know that at the beginning of her journey along the Yellow Brick Road, there runs another road? It’s a Red Brick Road. The road follows the Yellow Brick Road for a short distance and then takes off in another direction. We know the Yellow Brick Road takes her to the Emerald City, but where would she wind up if she took the Red Brick Road instead? Believe it or not, you’ll find people across the internet debating where that road goes. The Red Brick Road is never mentioned in L. Frank Baum’s writings. Some think the road merely led to the town where the Munchkins lived, shopped, went to school, and led normal daily lives, at least in Munchkin terms. Others believe it went to the North, where the Good Witch of the North lived. (By the way, in L. Frank Baum’s books, Glinda was the Good Witch of the South.)

However, I favor another theory that has been proposed over the years. Some believe that the Red Brick Road eventually lead back to Kansas, and that if Dorothy had gone that way, even through unknown places, she would sooner or later find herself back home. 

Life is much like the two roads in the movie. Everyone starts life out on the “Yellow Brick Road.” We have dreams and expectations of what lies ahead. Once we graduate from high school or college, we develop plans in our minds for what we want our life to be like from that point on. We dream of jobs, families, and, in general, the lives we want. We picture fairytale lives with true love, happiness, and a world without pain. A life traveling the Yellow Brick Road is what we long for as we take our first step into the world.

However, few of us can see life as it is along the Yellow Brick Road and instead take the Red Brick Road. It’s not a bad road, but it is one with ups and downs we didn’t expect and didn’t want once we stepped into the real world. For most of us, life does not go the way we hope, plan, or dream when we are young. We never know what we will meet around the next turn or what lies ahead. 

Often, it’s a road that leads us to question God and challenges our faith. We may even get upset with God and wonder why we have to face some of the obstacles we encounter in life. Elijah felt that way when he hid in the cave, thinking everything he did was in vain. Moses felt frustration when he struck the rock in the wilderness. Peter felt it when he snuck away in shame after denying Christ. We all have those feelings in life when we struggle with the hardships we face and don’t know what’s next.

However, there is one thing for sure: if you believe, as I do, that both roads lead to Kansas. In other words, no matter how your life goes, as long as we trust in God and don’t lose faith in Him, all paths lead to Him. As Paul wrote to the Romans, “ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:37-39 (NIV2011)
For some, it will be easy, while for others, the road will be more difficult. However, we can be assured that no matter how things change around us, the road we travel, whether Yellow or Red, will always have God there at the end, saying, “Welcome Home.”

Danny Minton, a member of Southern Hills Church of Christ, is a hospital chaplain