by Dr. Everett Flanigan
Director of Evangelical Mission/Assistant to the Bishop
ELCA-Southeastern Synod
I like driving.
It calms my nerves.
It does not matter whether I drive on an 8-lane freeway, or a scenic country road, driving allows me to be in contact with my thoughts and with the world around me. When our children were infants, often times we could calm them down and stop their crying by taking them for a quick drive through the neighborhood.
Director of Evangelical Mission/Assistant to the Bishop
ELCA-Southeastern Synod
I like driving.
It calms my nerves.
It does not matter whether I drive on an 8-lane freeway, or a scenic country road, driving allows me to be in contact with my thoughts and with the world around me. When our children were infants, often times we could calm them down and stop their crying by taking them for a quick drive through the neighborhood.
Driving is fun.
But in spite of my love for driving, I tend to get lost easily. Now getting lost is OK if you’re vacationing, but when you have time constraints, it’s not OK. Even with Mapquest and AAA directions, I can lose my way. Two years ago, my family gave me a GPS device to make my travels more efficient. One that gives directions, estimated times of arrival and looks ahead, so that you have an idea when to make lane changes and turns. You can see the directions at night, no more pulling to the side to read the printed directions. Better still, the device talks! So directions are gently spoken. Apparently, the device can speak several languages, but I chose “American English.”
I named the GPS “Gertrude” because the voice reminds me of a favorite aunt. Gertrude’s voice is gentle and precise. It’s comforting to know it when a wrong turn is made, Gertrude does not condemn, but rather responds in a forgiving tone simply saying ”Recalculating” and then proceeds to offer corrective measures or counter measures so that the you can get to your destination. I am in awe that the global positioning systems can see positions so precisely.
Short after receiving the GPS gift, I traveled to the Twin Cities area to lead a workshop with three congregations. For some reason, I arrived forty minutes early. Seeing no cars in the parking lot (Lutherans in that neck of the woods are very precise with respect to time-not too early, nor too late), so I decided to drive around in the neighborhood. Meanwhile Gertrude, the GPS device was still operating and was attempting to give directions to get me back to the church- or back on track. A couple of miles from the church, I saw an interesting city park and decided to take a short driving tour. The park had several statues, a fountain, a sculptured hedges and trees all accented by beds of colorful flowers. .But Gertrude wanted no part of that interlude. She was constantly and firmly telling me to turn this way or that way, preceded by what now is my favorite word “Recalculating.”
Now what I have not told you is that I had often deliberately taken the wrong directions just to test the accuracy of the device. I cannot be sure that Gertrude, somewhere in her memory, may have taken this into account. In this situation, however, Gertrude suddenly stopped talking. She gave no addition directions. She gave me the silent treatment. She had given up on me. In the silence of the GPS device, I became annoyed and so I drove back to entrance of the park. When I started to turn onto the street headed towards the workshop site, Gertrude resumed direction giving. Could it be that an electronic device was telling me in its silence, “Go ahead, have your fun. When you are serious about your destiny, let me know; but as long as you keep doing those crazy things, going off in senseless directions, you can find your own way back to the church but for now, I am out of here!” Can a device do that?
In my life journey, I am thankful that God does not give me what I deserve. Sometimes I am thankful that I don’t always get what I think I want. But this I know: even when we head off in wrong directions, even when we go off on tangents, even when we are not ready or willing to follow directions and things get messy and muddy, we may want to take the quickest route, or avoid certain routes, God is there in the mix. The Holy Spirit is always “Re-calculating” making every effort to redeem and restore us and creation; always finding a way, or forging a new one. Thanks be to God.
But in spite of my love for driving, I tend to get lost easily. Now getting lost is OK if you’re vacationing, but when you have time constraints, it’s not OK. Even with Mapquest and AAA directions, I can lose my way. Two years ago, my family gave me a GPS device to make my travels more efficient. One that gives directions, estimated times of arrival and looks ahead, so that you have an idea when to make lane changes and turns. You can see the directions at night, no more pulling to the side to read the printed directions. Better still, the device talks! So directions are gently spoken. Apparently, the device can speak several languages, but I chose “American English.”
I named the GPS “Gertrude” because the voice reminds me of a favorite aunt. Gertrude’s voice is gentle and precise. It’s comforting to know it when a wrong turn is made, Gertrude does not condemn, but rather responds in a forgiving tone simply saying ”Recalculating” and then proceeds to offer corrective measures or counter measures so that the you can get to your destination. I am in awe that the global positioning systems can see positions so precisely.
Short after receiving the GPS gift, I traveled to the Twin Cities area to lead a workshop with three congregations. For some reason, I arrived forty minutes early. Seeing no cars in the parking lot (Lutherans in that neck of the woods are very precise with respect to time-not too early, nor too late), so I decided to drive around in the neighborhood. Meanwhile Gertrude, the GPS device was still operating and was attempting to give directions to get me back to the church- or back on track. A couple of miles from the church, I saw an interesting city park and decided to take a short driving tour. The park had several statues, a fountain, a sculptured hedges and trees all accented by beds of colorful flowers. .But Gertrude wanted no part of that interlude. She was constantly and firmly telling me to turn this way or that way, preceded by what now is my favorite word “Recalculating.”
Now what I have not told you is that I had often deliberately taken the wrong directions just to test the accuracy of the device. I cannot be sure that Gertrude, somewhere in her memory, may have taken this into account. In this situation, however, Gertrude suddenly stopped talking. She gave no addition directions. She gave me the silent treatment. She had given up on me. In the silence of the GPS device, I became annoyed and so I drove back to entrance of the park. When I started to turn onto the street headed towards the workshop site, Gertrude resumed direction giving. Could it be that an electronic device was telling me in its silence, “Go ahead, have your fun. When you are serious about your destiny, let me know; but as long as you keep doing those crazy things, going off in senseless directions, you can find your own way back to the church but for now, I am out of here!” Can a device do that?
In my life journey, I am thankful that God does not give me what I deserve. Sometimes I am thankful that I don’t always get what I think I want. But this I know: even when we head off in wrong directions, even when we go off on tangents, even when we are not ready or willing to follow directions and things get messy and muddy, we may want to take the quickest route, or avoid certain routes, God is there in the mix. The Holy Spirit is always “Re-calculating” making every effort to redeem and restore us and creation; always finding a way, or forging a new one. Thanks be to God.
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