Thursday, February 28, 2008

That’s What Faith (and Stupidity) Must Be

Anyone who knows me knows that my best stories usually start out "Mike and I were . . ." This story is no different. Mike and I were visiting some of my relatives in Eastern Kentucky. We had a good visit and were driving home through the winding roads in those beautiful hills. It was late, and anyone who has spent time in the mountains can tell you that fog can come up quickly and without warning.

It was dark, and we ran into what is to this day the thickest fog I have ever experienced in my life. I quite literally could not see the end of the hood of my little car. Of course the rational and responsible thing to do would be to pull off and wait for the fog to clear.

Being neither rational, nor responsible, but 20 years old and indestructible (we assumed), Mike and I hatched a plan. We discovered that although visibility was about four feet, it was only about three feet to the ground. So, Mike hung out the passenger side window where he could see the edge of the road and shouted, "Right, Left, Right, Left . . . Left . . . LEFT!!!" We drove that way for about an hour and half until we were down the other side of the mountain and the fog lightened up.

Now, I am the first to admit. This was a dumb thing to do. It was dangerous and foolish, and it makes no sense. For that reason, it has become the perfect metaphor for faith. We all live in this world trying to find the direction God would have us to go with our lives. We all strain to see the road and the turns. Luckily we have the voice of God—manifested in others, the biblical text, and the quiet of our soul—screaming, "Right, Left, Right, Left . . . Left . . . LEFT!!!"

We follow that voice because we know that voice is trustworthy. Even when our instincts say otherwise, we know that voice knows better and will lead us on.

It looks crazy. It looks stupid. People may make fun of you for doing it. But, the "wisdom of God is foolishness" to the world. Just as the wisdom of two twenty-year-olds looks like foolishness—only in our case, it really was foolishness.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You know, this one would be a great "Guidepost" entry. Seriously. And, yes, boy am I familiar with stories that start with "Mike and I were..." Love those!