"A voice cries in the wilderness: prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight .... Winding ways will be straightened and rough roads made smooth. "

We all know that famous Advent text from Isaiah: in fact we heard it only last week. So it is a shock to read it is the last thing God should be doing.

According to a report in last week's paper, water board engineers are having to go to a great deal of trouble putting bends back into rivers and streams which had been artificially straightened. In the 1950's and 60's, straightening was all the rage. By cutting out the bends, land could be reclaimed for crops. As rivers passed through towns they were funnelled into pipes, creating valuable space for car parks and the like.

And what happened? With no eddies or shoals, the water flowed slower, the banks silted-up, vegetation died and wildlife fled. Once beautiful water meadows became uninviting dusty deserts and the rivers became "sluggish and unexciting".

And all because it was thought best to go straight. Cut out variety and head for home.

So if God is "straightening paths", then as the great Artist of Nature, he isn't doing it literally. In fact, he must be creating as many bends, loops and twists as he possibly can.

And that is just what many of us feel he is doing with our lives. And we don't like it. We want him to make life a nice smooth path and we round on him if it is not.

But then look what happens to our lives? The pace slows, what is refreshing becomes barren, and we end up "sluggish and unexciting" just like those straitjacketed rivers.

So it seems as if the straightest path for Heaven is actually the most winding one. If we can see the way clearly we become presumptuous, we lose interest. If life is always heading round great loops and bends, we can't see the goal, we may say "I am sure we have been here already". But that is the challenge of our pilgrimage. Varied in pace and colourful in its features.