Are you the type of person who, when traveling, is more concerned about getting there or enjoying the ride?
I was driving to Circuit City yesterday to drop of Katie’s car for her stereo installation; Katie was following me in her car … and I realized I was going much too fast for a 16 year old driver on I-10. I can afford another ticket, but she can’t. So I knew I had to slow down. Why was I such a hurry? And why was it so difficult for me to drop 10 mph? Because I’m much more interested in getting there than in the process. I don’t like it. I’m so future oriented that I have a very difficult time just enjoying the ride.
Today I led mid-day prayers for the staff at work. We read the story of the wise men traveling to Bethlehem to visit the newborn King of the Jews. In The Message, it says,
“They could hardly contain themselves: They were in the right place! They had arrived at the right time!”
I thought … right place, sure, but right time? It took months, possibly years, for them to get there! They went to Jerusalem first … out of their way … they should have mapquested first.
But perhaps, God’s timing was in the journey as well as the getting there. Perhaps God’s timing was in the patience, the trekking, even the wrong turns. They arrived at precisely the right time.
I want to learn to be focused in the moment, not consumed by later. In the Dewitt Jones video, Celebrate what’s Right with the World, he interviews a world-renowned weaver in Scotland who projects an aura of wisdom. Jones asked her what she thought about as she weaves, expecting a profound reply. “I wonder if I’ll run out of thread,” she answered. She noticed his look of disappointment and added, “when I weave, I weave.”
I think it was in “Illusions” that Richard Bach talked about the difference between a “pilot” and an “aviator” (at least, I think those were the terms he used – it’s been a long time). But the idea was the same. A pilot flew for the joy of the process. An aviator flew to get someplace quickly.
I’m afraid that I tend to be an aviator when I’m driving…but I think most of the time, literally and metaphorically, I like to chill and enjoy the ride. My friend Audrey says this is not true because when I ride my bike places, I do so as quickly as possible. I think that this is due to the fact that I want to spend more time with the people whom I am riding to see, and less time in transit.
Not having my car for the last twenty-four hours has made me realise how much I do miss when I’m driving, though, and I hope that I don’t end up doing that with my whole life.