Knowing Where You’re Going
Back in olden times (not horse and buggy days, but before cell phones and GPS), a cousin from the Midwest came to visit my family, staying a couple of nights with my parents. On the morning he was to drive on to his next destination, my wife Jean and I arranged to meet him for breakfast. We made sure he knew where the restaurant was. The next morning, Jean and I arrived a few minutes early at our destination. The agreed meeting time came and went. More than 30 minutes later, we saw him pull into the parking lot. After making sure he was all right, he told us this story.
Driving out of my parent’s subdivision, he unknowingly turned the wrong way. My cousin hadn’t driven very far before he realized he needed some help with directions. Spotting a service station, he pulled in, got out of his car, and walked up to a man who was pumping gas. After exchanging “Good mornings,” my cousin asked, “Can you tell me how to get to . . . “ At that moment, my cousin’s mind went blank, unable to remember “Cracker Barrel?” The man stopped pumping gas and observed, “Son, if you don’t know where you’re goin’, you’re goin’ to be on the road a long time.” Clearly embarrassed, my cousin tried to recover by saying, “But I’ll know it when I see it.” The man at the pump dispensed some additional wisdom, pointing out, “But you might not see it ‘til tomorrow.” To keep this story from getting any longer, I’ll wrap this up by saying my cousin figured out he made a wrong turn, reversed course, and was able to figure out where to go.
Before proceeding any further, I should point out that when keen senses of direction were handed out, I apparently was in the wrong line. Therefore, when I’m going out to photograph at a new location, I like to have a map, written directions, or both. A while back, I was in Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada, trying to locate a specific landform. The directions said to head down this particular ravine, “following footprints in the sand.” (Oh boy – I’m definitely in trouble.) Then go for about a hundred yards and look for another ravine that heads off to the right. (Clear so far?) Fortunately, I eventually located and photographed a stunningly unusual arch.
Towards the end of Jesus’ ministry on earth, he told his disciples, “We are going up to Jerusalem . . .” (See Luke 18:31.) In the distant past, I read a commentary that expressed Jesus’ mindset this way: “Jesus set his face like a flint towards Jerusalem.” Jesus knew where he was going as well as how to get there. And he knew why he was going there.
Of course, it is good to know how to get to a particular restaurant or photography location. But even more important is knowing where I’m headed spiritually. And I do.
It is well, it is well with my soul.
– Horatio G. Spafford