Before I share my next post on some FAQ’s, I want to spend a little time talking about detours. Please bear with me.
In my life, I have observed three kinds of detours.
- Non-Detour Detour: a pathway that seems to be taking us in the wrong direction, but later in life, we see that it was actually the best route.
- Wrong Turn Detour: I turned left when I should have turned right and now I am on a self-inflicted detour
- Someone Switched the Signs sending me far away from my intended destination.
In my young adult years, I had a series of short-term jobs. Each one seemed unrelated to what I believed was my life’s calling and each one ended abruptly as a result of two moves and the birth of our first two children. Some years after Mark became a senior pastor, I realized that each of those jobs were short-term training sessions teaching me various skills I would need as a pastor’s wife. When I was living through those experiences, I felt jerked around and confused. Now I have to smile and thank God for preparing me for the journey ahead.
One of my weaknesses that often leaves me embarrassed is that I am directionally challenged. I have no sense of north, south or even left or right. That means I often take scenic detours when I’m driving. I sometimes even go in circles just because I took a wrong turn. That is a frustrating detour of my own making. I do best when I listen to my navigation or follow a map instead of trying to follow my instincts no matter how strongly I may feel I know a better way.
When I was a kid, a favorite cartoon featured a roadrunner and a coyote. The roadrunner was always going at a high speed and the coyote was always scheming to get him to go the wrong way. One trick he used over and over was switching a sign to send the roadrunner in the wrong direction. There’s nothing more frustrating than trusting in signs that actually take you where you don’t want to go.
As Mark mentioned in his recent message it’s important to check out any potential motive behind those who would advise us on any subject. Anyone telling us the truth will welcome a careful examination of the facts, but In some cases, there is an intentional deception in order to profit from our ignorance. In addition to that, we can also be misled by others who have themselves been misinformed.
When I was growing up, my Dad worked for a soft drink company. In that age of loyalty and integrity, my Dad took his job very seriously and was very loyal to the company and the product he helped to sell. This loyalty was very deep on his part and affected our life on a personal level. One experience I remember well was when my Dad took me to get a hamburger and I asked for a competitor’s product as my drink. He didn’t say anything to me, but returned with a milkshake instead of what I had asked for. He later explained that he was wearing his uniform and it would not have been appropriate for him to buy that for me.
When Mark and I were dating, we frequently brought the competitors product
into my house in a paper bag so as not to offend my Dad.
So, you might imagine my Dad’s response to my older sister when she mentioned that the dermatologist suggested to her that drinking this particular soft drink could be contributing to her acne problem. My Dad very dogmatically denied any such connection. Why? I’m quite sure he had not read any of the reports on the subject. He had not talked with any professionals or performed any independent studies. He was dogmatic because he believed so strongly in what he spent a lifetime promoting and from which he made a living for our family. It would seem disloyal to even objectively consider the possibility that this product might be harmful in any way, so we never brought that up again.
I believe most Americans have fallen victim to a detour. It’s known as the Standard American Diet (SAD). In some cases, we have been misled unintentionally by well-meaning friends and family, but in most cases the signs have been switched.
That’s what I want to talk about in my next post.