Christian Smith - God Put People In My Path
Exploring faith journeys and inspiring ministries that embody the good news of God. This is The Cumberland Road. I'm your host, TJ Malinoski. Finding the divine in a multitude of life moments and seeing God in people where they exhibit love and grace and compassion. Christian Smith shares his faith journey with me. Christian is a minister, a husband, and a father. He has been serving the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Cookeville, Tennessee for the last seven and a half years. In our conversation, Christian talks about a point in his life of knowing what others wanted in him but needing to discover for himself who he was supposed to be. In a raw and authentic way, Christian asked, where would he be without a relationship with the divine and the love from with Christian Smith.
T.J.:Christian Smith, it is a pleasure to be on podcast with you. Thanks for being a guest. If you don't mind, take a couple minutes, pretend like somebody's listening today that's never met you. Where do you serve? What are you up to? What are you doing?
Christian:Alright. First of all, thank you, TJ, for having me here. I've enjoyed listening to your other podcast, getting to know some of my friends a little better, and, getting to meet new people through that. So, it's it's now my pleasure to introduce myself to some other folks. I am Christian Smith.
Christian:I am the senior minister at Cookeville First Cumberland Presbyterian Church, of course, in Cookeville, Tennessee. I've been serving here now for about seven and a half years. Church hired me seven and a half years ago to be their associate pastor, with the intention of becoming the senior pastor. There there's pastor Charles McCaskey had been serving here for almost 40 years, had announced his retirement, date. So they they hired they were looking for the associate who would become the senior pastor.
Christian:It worked out really well. It is a great way to make a transition after a long term pastor. It had allowed me to learn some of the history of the church, learn how Charles, interacted in the church, and allowed me to honor that as he retired while I still try to make my own way as the senior pastor. So I've been here for seven and a half years. For that, I served churches, in Chattanooga, churches in McMinnville, churches in Murfreesboro.
Christian:So that's a little bit about who I am and where I've served in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. I've been a minister in this denomination now or at least in the candidate starting in the candidacy process in this denomination about 20 years ago.
T.J.:Wow. Now you were telling me, off the podcast that there was one point in your life that you served in the prison system. Oh,
Christian:tell tell
T.J.:me a little bit more about that.
Christian:Well, I, I've told you before that, my first attempt at college did not go well. I I like to party a little more than I like to attend classes. So when I left college, I was looking at the job. And being a big old boy, because I am, you know, 6 and a half feet tall and and and pretty big around at this point, a security job was right up my alley. I'd served as security guards, and there was an opening for, some work in the Nashville correctional system.
Christian:Mhmm. So I I went to work in corrections in Nashville and wound up working in juvenile detention in Nashville for around 7 years. I served as the booking officer there, and and did a did a lot of work with what I thought was gonna be runways and shoplifters, and it wound up being kids who had done a whole lot worse than that. And it was it was a great chance to not not so much share my faith. I didn't I didn't do a lot of that, didn't have that opportunity there.
Christian:But I did have the opportunity to share some kindness and compassion to some folks who weren't always treated very kindly.
T.J.:Some of your upbringing came from, the Upper Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and the Upper Cumberland Presbyterian Church has its, roots in the Cumberland Presbyterians. And they originated out of, oh, out of the mid fifties. For those who don't know much about the history of the Upper Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Talk about that for just a couple minutes, who they are, and and you're telling me that your your dad served at a church as well, and and maybe some of the subtle differences between the two denominations.
Christian:Okay. You know, we talked about it off offline a little bit, but you you, I think, know more of the history of the Upper Cumberland Church than I do. Yeah. I I grew up in the Upper Cumberland denomination, which broke away or left the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in the mid fifties, primarily because of the church the Cumberland Presbyterian Church's, joining of the National Council of Churches work with the revised standard version of the Bible, which the those who did not agree with that call themselves the fellowship of conservative Cumberland Presbyterian. And after a lot of, debate and dissension in the church, they wound up leaving and many of them formed their own denomination, which was the Upper Cumberland Presbyterian Church.
Christian:It is a small denomination that is primarily, at this point, located in Middle Tennessee. There were some churches in Northern Alabama, and I think all of those have closed their doors at this point. Major differences between them, they do primarily use with some revisions the 18/83 confession of faith of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. They do believe in King James version of the bible only. There's no women allowed in leadership of the church.
Christian:They're just they're they're a little more conservative. They're they're, well, they're a lot more conservative. And while while my theology has wound up differing from them, so to speak, they are still great people who helped to raise me and make me who I am, and I am forever grateful, for all that church did for me growing up. You know, I I was raised in the in the Upper Cumberland Presbyterian Church. I was ordained to ministry in the Upper Cumberland Presbyterian Church at the age of 19.
Christian:They didn't have the educational requirements, that we do, and and I'm thankful for the opportunity that I had to learn and grow from that group.
T.J.:Talk for a few minutes about your your foundation and your upbringing in the faith. Have you always felt, that you were a Christian, a follower of Christ? Was there a lightning bolt experience? What was that like for you, Christian?
Christian:Well, like I said, my dad was a minister in the Upper Cumberland Presbyterian Church. And so I I've gone to church all of my life. From the day that I was born, I it didn't matter what I did on Saturday. It didn't matter what my family did on Saturday. I was going to church on Sunday morning.
Christian:So I can't say that there was this lightning bolt moment of recognition of God's presence. I've always known that God was there. I've always been active in the church. I've always had the opportunity to participate in worship life. I was a leader of the youth.
Christian:I was active participant in Sunday schools. You know, I I did a lot in the church. I always knew that God was there. I think my lightning bolt experiences came perhaps when I left the church, and started started becoming an adult and thinking that I knew my own way. I made lots of mistakes, and I strayed pretty far from God and the lightning bolts came when when God would would call me back to where I ought to be.
Christian:Luckily, God has never given up on me in the moments where perhaps I was ready to give up on myself or other people were ready to give up on me.
T.J.:You know, Krishna, a lot of people probably have, journeys where they faced a fork in the road, a metaphorical fork in the road where they're very active in the church, maybe as a youth or young adult, and then they've left. You know, generally speaking, how how does that thought process go? You know, it's a difficult thing sometimes to to leave, and then sometimes it's even more difficult to reconnect with the community of faith. So what was that like for you? But also, you know, what would you share with somebody who maybe was very active in a community of faith and and then left?
T.J.:What words of wisdom would you share with them?
Christian:I don't know that I have really great words of wisdom for many people, but I I have I I'm happy to share my experience and how I wound up perhaps back on the the the correct path. There's a couple of times where I found myself on a fork in the road with my faith journey. And one of those was when I left home, and I went to college, I had I had my first real opportunity to be out on my own, and I did not make the greatest decisions. You know? I I had already been, I'd already been in the ministry.
Christian:I'd already been preaching in churches, and I thought I knew what everybody else wanted me to be. I thought I knew what God wanted me me to be. But at that point, I wasn't real sure what I wanted me to be. And when I got to college and I had the opportunity to go out beyond my own and not be under the watchful eye of my parents and every everybody else, I did not always make the greatest of decisions, and I am and I strayed pretty far from and I don't wanna say pretty far. I I I strayed.
Christian:I I didn't do awful things, but I strayed from who I thought I ought to be.
T.J.:Mhmm.
Christian:Made some poor poor choices. But thankfully, God never gave up on me and God pulled me back in and I I was able to continue in the ministry. God put people in my path who helped me to figure out, what it meant to be a child of God and what it meant to serve God. So in that in that instance, God didn't give up and God put the correct people in my path, and that that's that's a recurring theme. It's the people in my path who helped me helped draw me back in.
Christian:Another opportunity where I I hit that fork in the road was when I left the Upper Cumberland Presbyterian Church. After I left college, my wife and I got married a few years later, and it was actually on my wedding day. My wife had already helped pull me back in so so to speak to the church. By that point, we were more active in serving the church. And on my wedding day, I got a job offer from an Upper Cumberland Presbyterian Church to serve as their associate pastor.
Christian:And Jodi Jodi, my wife, and I moved, to serve that church and serve enjoyed serving that church for a few years. But then my theology perhaps began to show some differences, and my idea of what it meant to serve in the church began to be different, than what theirs was. And so it came time for me to make the decision to to stay or to go, and eventually, we decided that we needed to leave the upper Cumberland Church. And that was a that was a decision that broke my heart, because they they did raise me. They did give me opportunity that I found my identity in that group.
Christian:But when we decided to leave, I really thought that I was leaving the ministry altogether. I thought my time serving in that role was done. But again, God didn't give up on me, and God still had a job for me, and God continued to put people in my path to help pull me back in to where I ought to be. So a few weeks after leaving that role with the Upper Cumberland Church, I got a phone call from one of the elders at the Rockville, Cumberland Presbyterian Church. That happened to be where my, where my grandparents had attended church for years.
Christian:And they were without a minister, so they needed someone to preach on Easter Sunday. So they, asked me if I would be willing to fill the pulpit that Sunday.
T.J.:Did I did they ask you or did they tell you as grandparents?
Christian:Well, the elder asked me. The grandparents told me. The elder asked me, but the grandparents had already told him I would say yes. Then I did. I was certainly not gonna turn down my grandparents' church.
Christian:So I went to preach that that Easter Sunday morning, and following service, one of the elders comes back to me afterwards. He goes, so you're gonna be here next Sunday as well. Right? And that that happened, and I wound up serving that church as an interim pastor for about a year and a half until they found their full time pastor. And at that point, they made me their youth director.
Christian:They wanted to keep me around for some reason. And that was the beginning of my walk in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. You know, it didn't matter where what that fork in the road looked like. It didn't matter where I started to walk. God always was there, and God was always putting people in front of me to help bring me back in.
T.J.:Mhmm.
Christian:So my my my words of wisdom, so to speak, to those who would find themselves at a fork in the road is to realize that God does not abandon us, and God puts people in our path. So lean upon those people who care for you. Lean upon those people who are there to support you. Listen to their words of wisdom because sometimes those words of wisdom, don't just come from them. Sometimes they come from the divine being who loves each and every one of
T.J.:us. Sometimes the people around us know us better than we know ourselves. Mhmm. You had mentioned your grandparents as clearly individuals have an impact on on your journey of faith. Who else, Christian, would you like to name that have kinda encouraged you, strengthened your relationship with Christ, and in your ministry?
Christian:There are so many people. You know, having grown up in church, there's so many names that I could mention, many of them from the upper Cumberland Church that folks wouldn't recognize, you know, ministers like Horace Allen and Charles Jones and James Edson, who and so many others who helped for me, my parents, my grandparents. You know, today, it it it's my wife and my child who, continue to love me and care for me. It is my church family here. My church families from Chattanooga and McMinnville and Rockville who still call me and check on me, who's who who I still have the opportunity to speak to from time to time.
Christian:There there are the people like June Savage, who was my childhood Sunday school teacher who saw that calling in me long before I saw it in myself. Mhmm. You know, there's there are too many folks to name, but there are an abundance of people who have always been there for me, in big ways and in little ways. Mhmm. I will always be thankful for those who have helped to keep me on my path.
T.J.:Christian, thinking about where we are in 2022 towards the beginning of this year and looking at your relationship with Christ, did you have any meaningful experiences that, you'd like to share that have impacted you? And it could be something really recent, it could be a childhood experience, a youth experience, young adult, something that just affirms your relationship, strengthens your relationship, not only with God, but I think just with all of humanity.
Christian:Gosh. That it it's hard to narrow down experiences to God to just 1.
T.J.:Mhmm.
Christian:You know? Obviously, as a pastor, one of the easiest ones to go back to is that call experience. You know, I I can't remember oftentimes what I did yesterday, but I can remember every detail of the day that I heard God say, this is what I want you to do.
T.J.:Mhmm.
Christian:You know, I I I did not hear God's audible voice, but I felt that voice. I felt that call, and I can remember every detail of that moment. That was my first real meaningful experience where God where I felt God was speaking to me directly
T.J.:Mhmm.
Christian:When God was pointing me in a direction. And I, you know, I was 15 years old. I thought there's no way that I can do that. I don't have the knowledge to be able to do that. I was scared to stand in front of people.
Christian:I remember when I was younger, my dad pastored a church with, like, 10 people on a good Sunday, and 9 of those people, I think, were related to me. And 1 Sunday, we didn't have a we didn't have a song leader. I was 10, 11 years old. My dad asked me if I would lead the singing that Sunday. And I sure sure I got up to lead the singing, and I made it about halfway through the first verse.
Christian:And then apparently, I passed out. I woke up a few minutes later on the back pew. I hate hated speaking in front of people, and yet that was what God wanted me to do. And I thought there's there's just no way. So I ran from that call for a little while, not as not as long as others have.
Christian:And and I and then finally, I God never relented. God never let up. And finally, I made the deal that you're not supposed to make with God. And I, you know, I said, God, if you'll give me that one clear, unmistakable sign, I'll do it. The next Sunday, the very next Sunday, we went to church, and I went into Sunday school class with that Sunday school teacher, June Savage, that I was talking about earlier.
Christian:And she had decided that for the first time ever, our church was gonna have a youth Sunday. And while she didn't mention my name that time, she did ask if one of us would consider preaching the sermon, and that was enough for me. That was my sign, and that was very clearly God being present in that moment. But I, you know, I see God in a multitude of moments every day. I see God in the people who are continuing to show love and grace and compassion through some very difficult times right now.
Christian:It would be so easy for us to jump into the division and the hatred that we see around us, but I still I see people every day who are who are rejecting that hatred and instead buying into the love and grace of Christ and sharing that with others. And they give me strength. They give me confidence, and they help they help to keep me on that path of, of care for others. So that that's just a few of the ways that I see God, in my life and see God today.
T.J.:In terms of the church, Christian, what what ideas do you have? What aspirations do you have for the church in in this present time and in the future?
Christian:You know, there's a couple of things that a couple of hopes that I have for the church right now. For the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in particular, as someone who comes from a group that broke off from the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, as someone who has come from the vision, I hope that we can see division is not always the solution. I hope we can begin to try and find ways to work together to find compromise and to find connection. And one of my favorite things that we see in the confession of faith, it is it's in there twice in the confession of faith. It talks about the mystery of God's divine ways.
Christian:I do not have God figured out. I've been in ministry now for 28 years. I don't have God figured out. I don't have the Bible figured out. I don't have theology figured out.
Christian:I don't have all of the answers. One of my favorite answers sometimes is I don't know. And it's okay to admit that we don't know, that we don't have it all figured out. But we can come closer to figuring out how to be the church. We can come closer to figuring out how to make a difference in the world if we're doing it together.
Christian:Yeah. We're gonna have disagreements. Yes. We're gonna have debates, but we can't allow those disagreements and debates to define us. What defines us is that for God so loved the world.
Christian:God loved us. Christ loved us, and we are called to follow that example of love and care for one another. If we could get past our division and see our connections, I think our church could grow. I think our church could find healing and find a future. So that's my hope for the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.
Christian:My hope for the church in general, it goes back to what I said earlier. You know, we are we're surrounded by hatred and division in the world right now. You know, it's easy to look around and see the negative. My hope for the church is that we will project the positive. Instead of buying into the negative, let's show the world that there is hope and there is opportunity.
Christian:Yeah. COVID has has been awful. Our our crowds are down at Cookeville. We don't have as many people attending in person, but our online crowds are huge. Our opportunities to do to do ministry and study are different now because, as I joked with you earlier, the church is finally joining the 20th century.
Christian:We and bringing in televisions and cameras. And because of all that, we we are connecting with more people than we ever did before. Right. So while it's easy to see the negative of lower crowds, let's look at the opportunity that we have of doing ministry in a different way.
T.J.:Christian, you've you've mentioned some positives about the church, about the community of faith. What are those positives that you would want to share with somebody who's not, you know, faith connected in any way? Not to convince, but just say, hey. This is part of our identity and we're, you know, very proud and and and we're very uplifted by this defining us as a group of people.
Christian:Man, there's there's so much that is positive about being in the church. Of course, the relationship with the divine, the relationship with the savior is obviously important to us, and it brings us that hope of salvation, that hope of future, that that hope of freedom. But it also gives us the guidance and the purpose that we need for our day to day life. I don't know where I would be without God. I don't know where I would be without that relationship to the divine that leads me, yes, in a calling that is also my vocation but leads me in a calling where I feel like I'm making a difference in the lives of others and that doesn't have to be pastoral ministry.
Christian:That that could be any calling. So the positive what the the great positive is that relationship with God, that relationship with the divine that gives me purpose, but also the relationship with people. I I can't imagine where I would be without a church family. You know that I've spent the last 5 days sitting in my bedroom isolated because of COVID, and it it was really lonely sitting there. But every day, I was getting phone calls or text messages or emails from folks in my church and folks in my faith community outside of Cookeville just checking on me, wanting to know if there was anything they could do for me.
Christian:You know, it is it is nice to have it is nice to have the that familial relationship with people who want to love and care for you, who want to be there for you in the darkest moments of your life, and wanna celebrate with you in the joyous moments of your life. Those relationships, are something that it is hard to duplicate outside of the church.
T.J.:Yeah. I would add grace to that. You know, there's an extension of grace from human to human, and of course, divine to human, that is hard. Well, I don't think it can be replicated in any other kind of setting or context, and I I need that, personally.
Christian:Oh, I certainly I certainly need that. I, you know, I told you, you know, I've made mistakes in college, but I gosh. I continue to make plenty of mistakes every day. I I continue to mess up and that example of grace and care and compassion that I receive from my spouse, that I receive from my child, that I receive from my church family, you know, it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter if I mess up. They still love me.
Christian:They may have to correct me, but they still love me and they still welcome me. And that example of grace is one that I wish that we as a church, could more freely share not just with the folks in our faith community, but with everyone in the world realizing that we are all made in the image of God, and yet we are all all people who make mistakes each and every day and who need forgiveness and love and grace and compassion.
T.J.:Right. For forgiveness from other human beings and forgiveness from God is
Christian:Yeah.
T.J.:Is important.
Christian:Yeah. Yeah. I don't know how I could function if I didn't know that God forgives me because oftentimes, I I have difficulty forgiving myself.
T.J.:Right.
Christian:But knowing knowing that God forget knowing that God can forgive me, knowing that others can forgive me helps me to feel better about who I am and to let go some of those things that perhaps I have done wrong.
T.J.:Yeah. I think it's a test of time as well. Our confession of faith
Christian:kind
T.J.:of alludes to this in the assurance of forgiveness, this you know, that that trust comes over a period of time, and I think being a recipient of grace, time and time again, again and again, assures that. And I don't know if it needs to be proved to me, but it definitely builds like a form of confidence and, assurance of moving throughout the day without being paralyzed by fear or retribution or cancellation. And, I I find hope in that, and encouragement. And also, we feel, you'd mentioned the word, freedom. You know, there's there's a sense of bravery of being able to to, grow and move and experiment and try knowing that you may fail, that you will make mistakes, that you will sin.
T.J.:It's just being able to learn from that and know that you can bounce back in seeking that forgiveness.
Christian:Like I said, I I've I've wandered away from God at times. I have made mistakes. I will continue to make mistakes every day. But the fact that God keeps saying, Christian, I want you to serve. Christian, I want you to make a difference.
Christian:Christian, I need you to stand up and share this message or I need you to offer pastoral care to this person. The fact that God still finds ways to use me gives me that assurance of pardon. It gives me that bravery, as you said, to keep moving forward. You know, I could easily fall down the rabbit hole of I've made mistakes and I can't pick myself up. But I don't have to because God keeps picking me up.
Christian:God has never let me go, and God has continued to give me that purpose. That's, that's why I find it so hard to see how people function outside of that relationship with God because I don't know what my purpose would be if I didn't have that relationship. I don't know how I I don't know how well I could function without that constant reassurance of relationship with God.
T.J.:Well, Christian, in your 5 days of isolation, I I would assume that you've had time to think and and been looking for things to help pass time. So are are there books or movies or music in your life, long ago or recently that impact you that speak to you?
Christian:I'd like to be honest to tell you that I spent 5 days reading all kinds of books and growing as a person, but I can't honestly say I did that. What I did do a lot of, because I do a lot of it all the time, is I listen to music. I I really enjoy listening to music. One of my favorite hobbies is going to concerts. If you were to walk into my den, I think I have somewhere in the neighborhood of 23, 24 poster concert posters in my den, from shows that I have attended.
Christian:I love music. And and the genre of music that I particularly enjoy is Americana music. It's what they call it. And and I think they just call it that because they don't know what else to call it. They can't really classify it.
Christian:It's a mix of rock and folk and country, and there's there's all kinds of different artists in there. Most people who know me know that most of those concert posters have the name Jason Isbell on them. I love going to see him live. My wife doesn't like to listen to some of that music with me, particularly because she thinks most of it is way too sad. And it it I I know where she's coming from because it does that kind of music that that genre of music speaks to the human experience perhaps better than any others to me.
Christian:It shares the struggles of life. It shares the difficult moments that folks have gone to and in much deeper level than, you know, the popular country music that I feel like we hear on the radio. But it doesn't just share that. It shares their journey out of that experience as well. And I think that's for me, that is encouraging in that music because I I struggle just like everybody else.
Christian:I struggle emotionally. I struggle with confidence. I struggle with a lot of issues, and knowing that other people struggle as well and other people are finding their way out of that, that is a huge encouragement to me. And I think if we as people could be more honest with our struggles and be more honest with how we are trying to work out of those struggles, we might realize that all of us are dealing with that. You know, we live in a world where we share our positive moments on social media and it glamorizes life, and and the reality is all of us.
Christian:All of us are having difficult times. If we could share that just as much and learn how to be honest with who we are, perhaps we could also learn how to better lean upon each other so that we are not feeling like we have to make it out of those dark moments of life by ourselves, but we have others who are able able and willing to lift us up out of those difficult times.
T.J.:Yeah. I think books and movies and and music speak to us on an emotional level.
Christian:Mhmm.
T.J.:And the challenge for us I mean, and they ask great questions of who am I, and what relationships do I have, and what is my purpose, what is my place. And I think as as a community of faith, as Christians, as Christianity, you know, we can point people to these commonalities of just being a human being and the difficulties that can come with it, the struggles that come with it. You know, not that we have a solution, but here is a point or two of faith that provides some understanding and solace and comfort, and as we mentioned earlier, grace, where you can't find it in any other kind of context. So I'm glad that music does that for for you, Christian. Christian, if, if folks wanted to continue to follow you on your faith journey, where would you point them to?
T.J.:What are you up to? Where can we find you?
Christian:Well, you can always find me sitting in Cookeville somewhere. Obviously, like most people, you can find me on social media. I have I have Facebook. I have Instagram. I have those things, but I'm not really active on my personal pages unless you wanna see pictures of my 13 year old daughter every now and then.
Christian:That's about the extent of what I share. But as far as my faith journey and my work here in Cookeville, you can always find us on the Cookeville Cumberland Presbyterian Church Facebook page. We broadcast our services every Sunday morning, at 8:45. We're also on YouTube. You can find us on Tuesdays Thursdays.
Christian:Typically, we are doing a Facebook live bible study. My associate pastor, Caleb Norris, and I, kinda alternate who's doing those studies as we are walking through the different gospels. You know, we one of the opportunities we found during COVID is that while our attendance in Sunday night bible studies waned, if we move those online, we got a huge response. So every Tuesday Thursday, we do what we call coffee and conversation, and it's just a short bible study. That is an opportunity we have found and thoroughly enjoyed.
Christian:So those are the those are the easiest ways to find me on my faith journey.
T.J.:Alright. Coffee and conversation, is it set up to where you can have dialogue?
Christian:It it is. Well, it's a Facebook live, so there are comments, that people can make. We We don't have a whole lot of people taking advantage of that. They tell us, hi. And every now and then, we get, a question, but we would love to have more of a conversation during that time.
Christian:You know, that's made difficult because people aren't always watching it live. Some people are watching it later in the day, but that's, you know, that's another opportunity is you can watch it anytime. And, of course, you can always drop a comment, and we'll get back to you at the next Coffee and Conversation time.
T.J.:Alright. Alright. So define Christian and, join in and support his ministry. You can go to the Cookeville Cumberland Presbyterian Facebook page and, website, YouTube page, and you you can find Christian there. Christian, thank you so much for sharing and, working through, the kind of the tail end of the COVID fog and, just and and giving me some of your time and and, of course, allowing me to hear your face journey.
T.J.:I appreciate it.
Christian:TJ, I appreciate you having me. I appreciate I appreciate your support, making this a easy and somewhat painless process. And and I appreciate those who would wanna join along and follow me on my faith journey.
T.J.:Christian, thank you and thank you for listening to today's podcast. Grab a friend and travel with me on the next journey down Cumberland Road.
