GPS Devices

Ancient man was certain that the earth was the center of the universe.

To the Greeks, the center was in Delphi at the Omphalos Stone-the navel stone.

To the Parisian, it is Paris. To the New Yorker it is the Big Apple.

To all of us, where we are and what we are doing is the center of the Universe. But it is not really so.

When we are self-centered the world revolves around us. When we fall in love, our universe revolves around our beloved. We want to know about where they are and what they are doing. Our attention is focused upon them.

As we fall in love with God, our interest is learning more about God. God becomes the center of our universe. We are interested in what God wants and where God is going. Worship becomes a love affair as we focus upon God. As we learn to worship God we begin to "forget about our selves."

But what does all this have to do with GPS devices, you may ask. Just this. GPS devices help us to know where we are in the world by using reference points. Man has an innate desire to know where he is and where he is going and how to get there.

We all want to know our place in the universe, either spatially or relationally. We want to know how we fit in and how we connect.

When I was in Europe, all the vehicles had GPS devices. You could type in where you are and where you wanted to go and the GPS devices would show your route on the map and give you instructions on how to get there. The instructions were visual on a map and audible.

Pretty handy devices, I would say. Your chances of getting lost are minimized. I expect to see these devices become much more prevalent in America and at some point in the future perhaps most cars will have them. Unfortunately, it will deprive many of us with the satisfactions that we have found in backseat driving. (Brokerbelle and Princessbelle tell me not to be bitter.)

Now if I could just find a GPS system for life. Unfortunately life may be more about the journey than the destination. Pilgrimage is the same. It is a journey-not just an end goal. Of course, goals are important. The Apostle Paul saw life as a linear race. For many of us, life is not really so straight. And if you trace the journey and adventures of Paul, his life was not too straight either.

In the Canterbury Tales, the tales are told in the process of the journey and the end is a denouement. Well not much is written about the death of Paul. We believe he was beheaded along the Appian Way. But the adventures of his life, the stories of who he met and what he did in the course of his life, are found in the Bible. In fact Paul would start out for one place and end somewhere else. A dream points him toward Greece. Later he decides to go to Spain but never gets there. His life involves bandits and shipwrecks. It is not a picture of detailed direction-but one of adventure.

Perhaps life is the same. It is the process of living it that brings the action, the mystery and the excitement. That is a scary conclusion for those of us who are so goal oriented. We rarely get to where we intend to go.

Sometimes when we get lost, we find the most interesting parts of life and go where we would never have gone in our right mind.

We depend upon God to bring us to our final destination. Meanwhile, it is all about the journey.

Perhaps that is why HarleyDad has a little of the Harley in his soul. It is about the journey.

I hope I never have a GPS device on my Harley. We have to remain free somewhere.

HarleyDad