Recalculating

What’s not to love about the GPS?

With millions of miles of roads, attractions, gas stations and destinations, there’s no reason to buy a map ever again. Piggybacking off military satellites, American companies have found ways to tap into the invisible beam to help a whole world of humans find their way.

And still, we are lost.

Oh sure, we know how many miles it is from Greenville to Columbus, but we don’t know how to find our way to reconciliation. We know how to get to Candyland with the kids, but we don’t know how to reach their hearts. We know how to find a Chinese restaurant in Loveland, but we are still searching for someone who can touch our heat.

I knew a friend who claimed he could find every answer in The Book. His daughter was told she needed braces. He needed confirmation, so he spent the weekend scouring the pages, looking for a clue. Usually he would find one, a lost verse in Lamentations  or Proverbs, and he would proudly pronounce his answer. That never seemed right to me. I want to find the answers without twisting the words to make them fit. The answers are there, in black and red, but so is God, right in my heart.

The GPS is given the coordinates and off we go to our destination. But I am a wanderer, a drifter. I pull off at quirky side attractions, wondering what all the fuss is about. If there’s a world’s largest frying pan or a UFO watchtower or corn palace, I’m there. If the sign says, “scenic overlook,” I can’t pass it up.

The Australian voice programmed in the GPS, Geoff, patiently finds me where I’m at and gently encourages me to get back on the road. “Recalculating,” he says, while giving the new coordinates.