I Was Lost Somewhere in Google Maps Near Caruthers
The property I was looking for didn’t have a physical address and I only had the Assessor Parcel Number and cross streets. It was an obscure location, not familiar to me. So I open my Google maps and after a few minutes I located the general area and drop a pin on it. Then I zoomed in to get a better idea of the immediate vicinity. As I zoom closer I lost the pin. I didn’t want to zoom out so I manipulated the map long enough to get frustrated, because I was wasting my time and I felt like and primate using space age technology. Finally I came to my senses, got some help, zoomed out, relocated my pin and accomplished my task.
This is a good metaphor for those of us who are still trying to manipulate the map try to find the pin point. I feel the intensity, anxiety, pressure and pure psychic pain of so many people who have the right tools, are smart, usually able to get around just fine, but when it come to some important life tasks they feel like a sappy good for nothing failure. It could be about money management (does that ring a bell for you?), relationship problems (Hello! Am I talking to YOU!) health issues (Need to shed a few…a few DOZEN pounds!?) or just plain needing to learn how to get by.
Can I tell you why you are going to make it? May I point out to you why you are going to find that pin point and focus in on it?
Because that is the way it is supposed to be for you. You were made to make it. You were made to use your brain, get all the help you need, and apply your hard work ethic to getting it done. Everyone wants you to make it. GOD! wants you to make it.
What can stop you? One thing; your own emotional reaction to your situation. What if you just stopped feeling so anxious? What if you just got a little bit of help from someone who has just a little more experience than you do, or someone who can jog your process just enough to get you back on track. What if you just zoomed out, refocused and begin your search again.
Life is complicated, but it is not so complicated that you need a Ph.D. In fact your Ph.D. just might get in your way. Sales are not that complicated, money management is not that complicated, family life is not that complicated. More important, you are smart enough, good enough, and you have more help around you that it would be hard not to make it. You’ll have ups and lots of downs, everybody does. But you’ll make it. Just don’t let it get too emotional.
I have a beautiful dream for your life. God has a beautiful dream for your life. You have a beautiful dream for your life. Don’t freak out, zoom back, get a little help, relocate your pin and accomplish your task.
You can read more about this in this weeks Gospel lesson in Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32.
I love you – Bryan Martin
p.s. Say a prayer for our brothers and sisters in Haiti and Chile.
American Red Cross (www.Redcross.org)
Samaritan’s Purse (www.SamaritansPurse.com)
Love your neighbor – Help One
