Narrow Lanes to Laneshawbridge

People who visit Salem Chapel often remark on the narrowness of the lanes. Better used to the wide roads of our towns and cities, country lanes offer the inexperienced motorist a challenge few enjoy. The other week, I bicycled from my home to Laneshawbridge, over the hills bestriding Kelbrook and Foulridge, in order to avoid the busy roads of Colne. Despite the absence of traffic, the passage was not easy. Much gravel on the surface caused me to risk skidding. At one point, the lane literally turned into a ford or river bed of perhaps a hundred yards’ distance (below). The road was so steep that my brakes were employed for over a mile without remission. Furthermore, the lane was far narrower than those around Martin Top; at one point, a warning sign anticipated a further narrowing (above); I wondered how thinner it could get without just becoming a mere plank or actual footpath.

The Christian path is not easy. It is narrow and steep, whereas the alternatives are broad, well metaled and gently sloped. One might even venture that the latter's fellow-travellers can be more agreeable than some of the saints. Those who take the narrow way and give it up never bothered to read the Bible’s fair warnings about the nature of the road, nor began to appreciate the richness of the destination.