The Road of Life: Between Clouds, Longing and Legacies

 

By Célio Barcellos

While I was driving and chatting with my friend Robis André about the things of life, the sky between Jaguariúna and Engenheiro Coelho in São Paulo state treated us to a breathtaking frame of stratus-cumulus clouds. 

In an endless web, they blanketed the deep blue and softly veiled the sun’s rays, which hung almost motionless, shining perpendicularly above the motorway ahead of us.

At one point, Robis shared with me a message he had received at the beginning of May, telling him of the passing of Mr Byron David Hobbs — architect and dear personal friend. Mr Hobbs had given outstanding architectural service to the central Adventist church in Taunton. 

He designed a beautiful Centre of Influence that is currently under construction and will help many people across the south of England — from nutrition and physical health to mental and spiritual wellbeing.

Their friendship had grown so strong that even after Robis was transferred from Taunton to the beautiful tourist city of Bath to pastor a new church, he asked Mr Hobbs once again to design another Centre of Influence. 

As we spoke, I could see the sadness in Robis’s face. Mr Hobbs had been very special to him, and sadly he would not live to see one more building bearing his signature (Byron D Hobbs Architectural & Property Services). 

Just as I sit writing this chronicle, a song by the Brazilian duo Milionário and José Rico came to mind — a duo that, for decades, has sung with deep poetic feeling about the simple, rural life of Brazil’s hinterland.

The opening verse goes like this:

In this long road of life

I keep running, I cannot stop

Hoping to be a champion

Reaching first place

Hoping to be a champion

Reaching first place

The song made me reflect that life truly is a road. It can feel long when we pursue our dreams and leave behind a meaningful legacy — or painfully short when unexpected crossroads cut the journey short. Of course, there are also those who live to a great age yet never quite fulfil their dreams, or who simply stopped dreaming.

Mr Hobbs dreamed, believed, built his heritage, raised his family and left a genuine contribution to this world. His family is surely grieving, yet they must also feel immense pride in the legacy he leaves behind.

The great Roman orator Marcus Tullius Cicero once said of death: “Who is there who would not weep for the death of his own, first and foremost because he considers them deprived of the blessings of life?”

Our conversation was soon interrupted, for we had seminars to attend at the In Mission Symposium, organized by the Adventist University Centre of São Paulo (UNASP).

UNASP! That name still stirred a certain unease in Robis, for it held painful memories. After twenty-six years without seeing each other in person, we met again in the very place where both joyful and difficult moments had once unfolded.

We share similar stories: we are from the same state, capixabas of Espírito Santo, we both had to interrupt our Theology degree and took many years to finish because of financial hardship. 

Robis’s pain (he is affectionately known as “Pity” among friends) came from the humiliations he suffered for not having money to continue his dream of becoming a pastor and living with dignity in the college halls. 

During this Symposium, he made a point of eating at least one meal in the UNASP canteen and taking a photo on the bench he nicknamed “the hunger bench”. 

There he had often sat, sad and with an aching stomach, unable to afford proper food. In those days, some administrators heartlessly barred students with overdue fees from even entering the dining hall.

Hunger hurts. More than once, João Nicolau — a wonderful pastor who passed away last year — took pity on young Pity and lent him his own meal card so he could eat. Nicolau was a man of rare goodness and purity of heart.

But that is all in the past now. There is no bitterness left. God has honoured Pity: today he is Pastor Robis André of the Bath church, in the South England Conference of the Inter-European Division. He arrives with the challenge of transforming an abandoned church in the tourist center of Bath into a Center of Influence. 

Within the metaphor of life’s road, we cherished the reunion after those twenty-six years apart and relived nostalgic moments from the time we sold books to pay for our theology studies.

Back then we had no money and were simply young men dreaming of becoming pastors. Today, by God’s grace, we not only eat well and care for our families, but we also have the privilege of serving the Lord’s church — even though the Atlantic Ocean now lies between us.

Thank God we are still travelling this road of life. We ask Him to help us fulfil His purpose so that the legacy we leave will bring blessings to our families, our friends, the church, and the Kingdom of Heaven. That is our greatest goal.

Sadly, the same can no longer be said of Mr Hobbs. When Pastor Robis returns to England, he will no longer see his friend. He will only be able to embrace his widow, his children and his grandchildren.

The final verse of the song “Estrada da Vida” carries this sobering message:

But time closed in on my road

And weariness overcame me

My sight grew dim

And the end of this life arrived. 

The end of this life has come for Mr Hobbs, and it will come for every one of us. Let us therefore live with eternal purpose, from sunrise to sunset, because between one twilight and the next, the road may suddenly end.

If you are young and full of dreams, as we once were, do not lose heart because of lack of money, support, or the insensitivity of others. Keep walking the road and do good wherever you go. You will surely find fulfilment in the profession you choose and bring blessing to many lives — whether here in Brazil or far away across the sea.

Let us live fully and preach the gospel of Jesus. After all, He is the only Road that has no end, and He longs to walk it with us into eternity, and without the selfishness of wanting first place.

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