“Therefore, you will see the land only from the distance; you will not enter the land I am giving to the people of Israel.”
Deuteronomy 32:52
Deuteronomy 32:52
Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you
Matthew 13:11
My husband and I drove down the Florida Turnpike on a sunny, spring day. The trees dotting the wide, sandy expanse on either side of the road were leafy and green, the tiny leaves like butterfly wings fluttering in the gentle breeze.
We were headed to the Columbia Restaurant in Celebration, Florida, to celebrate our daughter’s engagement. Frustrated by the minimalist step-by-step directions offered by the short tempered female voice of our GPS, I kept punching the arrow that would show me the entire map. I wanted to see exactly where I was going and when I was getting there.
“Did you see that?” my husband asked.
“What?” I said, looking up from my Galaxy pad with its mezmerizing GPS map.
“It was the Suwannee River,” he said, “You missed it.”
I looked out the rear window of the van and watched the bridge and surrounding trees blur into the past. I completely missed the river.
I had a happy memory of camping beside the Suannee with my best friend in college, and waking up to a blue grass festival at the state park. I had really wanted to see the river again.
How like me to be so focused on the destination that I completely missed the journey. I felt like I had flunked Zen 101.
You would think that midway through my own life’s journey I would have gotten this basic principle of the abundant life. Stop focusing on the end-game. Pay attention to the now.
It made me think of the children of Isreal as they journeyed to the Promised Land. Did they realize the journey was all many, including Moses, were going to get? Did they savor each moment? Did they notice the barely discernable color just before the spring flowers burst into bloom? Did they note the orange sunset fading to pale pink then soft grey, the glistening sparkling stars in the vast sky, the softness of their baby’s hand? Did they see the river?
Their story is my story. I am one of those children of Israel journeying across the desert wondering where I am going. But the abundant life that Jesus promised me is right here. I can’t be so preoccupied with where my life is going that I miss the precious moments that get me there.