Faith: Need a Road Map?
Technorati Tags: faith,truth,lost
When I taught on the Navajo Reservation I drove delinquents home sometimes, or to a bus stop.
On this occasion the winter darkness overtook us as he directed me to his family hogan. I could barely see it after miles of driving
“Uncles are drunk by now,” he said. The hogan, never very large, would be like a cell for him.
“I’m sorry they drink like that.” I said.
He shrugged. “Sure you can find your way back?”
”Sure,” I said. “The power plant is all lit up there for a landmark. No problem.”
I let him out, realizing that I had forgotten those many turns at least a mile back. Foolhardy, I wanted to explore and let God show me the way home. Pride was in the mix.
Besides, what was I to do, take the student back to my house?
There were no street signs on the dirt tracks. The crisp night was pitch black. A few mountains and hills were dimly silhouetted by fragile moonlight and the distant power plant flood lamps. Good news: a full tank of gas. All was dirt roads and arroyos (dry creek beds).
I had no road map on the reservation. Criminals hide easily here their whole lives. Besides, since the jail was condemned, they were escorted to their own homes in police cars.
Faith was a daily necessity but this was foolhardy. I lost sight of the power plant after a couple of turns. “Wait a minute, we only went through one arroyo on the way here,” I thought. “Well, LORD, it’s me again. I am proof you love idiots. We make you look really good. Was that the turn back there?”
I coasted home on fumes after rambling at least a hundred miles out of my way.
Here’s a true or false test:
True religion is based on experience, on feelings. You don’t need a road map. You can just feel your way. They’re all the same anyway.
True or false?
