Rules of the road for a good "Journey Home": "My prayer for all of us is that God will enlighten our hearts and grant us the gift of wisdom to help us along the road of life and keep us headed in the right direction."
A man traveling in the mountains of New York discovered at dusk that he was lost. Eventually he came to a farm. He stopped and went to the barn to ask a farmer, who was milking his cows, "Is this the right road to Chestertown?" "Yes," the farmer responded. Satisfied, the man started back to his car, but it suddenly dawned on him that he didn't know the direction. So he turned around and asked the farmer the right question, "But which way is town?"
Before we get too far down the road of this new year, let's make sure we are headed in the right direction. For, as St. Augustine put it, "It is better to limp in the right direction than to run in the wrong direction."
Rather than asking a farmer for directions, we will go to a better informed source, a person who knows not only the way through this life, but also the direction to eternity--St. Paul. In his lovely letter to the Ephesian church, he prays that they might receive the gift of wisdom to guide them through life.
"May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ give you a spirit
of wisdom, and have the eyes of our hearts enlightened."
And that is my prayer for all of us this new year--that God will enlighten our hearts and grant us the gift of wisdom to help us along the road of life and keep us headed in the right direction.
To help us get started, I will share with you a few bits of wisdom that I have collected over the past year. I call them "Rules of the Road" because they are like the rules, buoys and lights which help sailors navigate and make their way through rough waters.
Let's begin with a theme, a motto which will carry us through many a storm in life.
"All things work together for good for those who love
God." (Rom. 8:28)
This stole I am wearing was stitched for me by a good friend who presented it to me as a gift at my ordination. It is exquisite to look at from the front side, but if you look at the reverse--the back side--the pattern disappears and what we see is a formless tangle of knots and colors. That is often the way it seems in life--our lives can be tangled and confused when we look at them from our side, but we must trust that from God's side a lovely pattern is emerging and will ultimately be revealed to us when our life is completed.
One woman writes a classic example of what I mean by this:
"When I was a little girl in Germany, I asked my mother what it means that 'all things work together for good.' My mother was baking a cake at the time and without a word she handed me a spoonful of baking soda. It tasted awful! 'Amelia,' my mother then said, as I spit out the terrible taste, 'Many things in life, when taken by themselves, are not always pleasant; but when they are mixed together with all of life and baked in the oven of love, you will love the results.'
"I learned a powerful lesson that day. Baking soda by itself is terrible, but when mixed into a cake, with all the other ingredients, the results are wonderful!"
This is a helpful lesson of faith for all of us who struggle with distasteful problems of life. If we allow God to take them, He will weave them into a beautiful pattern and we will know that, in the end, "All things work together for good for those who love God."
A second rule of the road for the new year has to do with our human propensity to blame. An example of what I mean by this:
The manager of a minor league baseball team was disgusted with his center fielder's performance. One day after the center fielder missed an easy catch, the manager could take no more.
"I'll show you how it's done," he said, and out to center field he went. The first ball he fielded took a bad hop and hit the manager in the mouth. The next ball was a high fly which the manager lost in the sun--it hit him square in the forehead. The next ball was a hard line drive which zipped through his hands.
Tossing his glove to the ground, the manager marched back to the dugout. Furiously he grabbed the center fielder and shouted, "You moron! You've messed up center field so badly I can't do anything with it!"
It is so easy for us to complain, blame and make excuses for our misfortune, but good mental and spiritual health requires that we take charge of our lives and responsibility for who we are and what we do.
Scott Peck opens his ever-popular book, The Road Less Travelled, with a single line of truth: "Life is difficult!" I have discovered over the years that the happiest people are those who accept this truth and get on with their lives, with God's grace and with personal responsibility.
Forgiveness is a great healer. I no longer hold feelings of anger over what happened to me as a child. There is a great deal of freedom in forgiving. I can achieve any goal I wish without the shackles of blame. I have no score to settle with my parents. I don't keep a tally of wrongs done to me by them. I awake every morning free and unchained.
Positive thinking is healthy. Life is so very, very short. Why spend time on negative thoughts? They only hurt the person who feels them. If you must have revenge, then forgive. That is the best revenge of all.
Third on my list of rules of the road: You've got two eyes. Keep one on the road of life and other focused on where you're ultimately heading--eternity.
There is a wonderful story from the tradition of the great American pioneer, Daniel Boone. According to the story, Daniel Boone took a friend with him on one of his trips. As day was breaking, Boone's friend said, "Where do we go today?" Boone looked out over the valley that lay ahead of them and pointed to a rocky outcrop on the far side. "That looks to be about 20 miles from here," he said. "If we start now we should be able to pitch camp there by sundown."
So they took off through the woods. All day they followed deer trails and the meanders of creeks and streams. They made new paths where no one had ever walked before. Then, shortly before sundown, they stood at the foot of that sheer cliff they had seen from across the valley that morning. Boone's friend was amazed. "How in the world did you find this place?" he asked. "We saw it only once this morning. All day we've been walking through uncharted woods. How were you able to do that?" The old pioneer thought for a minute and then said, "I don't know exactly, but maybe it's because I have a near look and a far vision."
Isn't that the truth. It takes a near look and a far vision to make it through this life and into the next.
Well, we need to close now and return next week for more. But let's enjoy one more story which, with a bit of humor, makes its ultimate point:
Two 90-year-old men, Moe and Sam, have been friends all their lives. Sam is dying, so Moe comes to visit him. "Sam," says Moe, "you know how we both loved baseball all our lives. Sam, you've got to do me one favor. When you go, somehow you've got to tell me if there's baseball in Heaven."
Sam looked up at Moe from his deathbed and said, "Moe, you've been my friend many years. This favor I'll do for you." And with that, Sam passed on.
It is midnight a couple of nights later. Moe is sound asleep when a distant voice calls out to him:
"Moe..."
"Who is it?" he sits up suddenly. "Who is it?"
"Moe, it's Sam"
"Come on, you're not Sam. Sam died."
"I'm telling you," insists the voice. "It's Sam."
"Sam is that you? Where are you?"
"I'm in Heaven," says Sam, "and I've got to tell you some good news and
some bad news."
"Tell me the good news first," says Moe.
"The good news," Sam tells him, "is that there is baseball in heaven."
"Really?" says Moe, "that's wonderful. But what's the bad news?"
"The bad news is that you're pitching on Tuesday."
Amen.
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