Point of Reference

If you've ever tried to drive around our home town of Charlotte, you know how easy it is to get lost. The streets wind all around the ravines, they change names every few miles, and even uptown where they're laid out in rectangles they're oriented along a diagonal axis, not north-south-east-west. In contrast, our friends who used to live in Cochabamba, Bolivia, never got lost. There's a mountain range that runs across the north end of the city, so no matter where you are, all you need to do is sight the mountains and you can easily find your way. That's the beauty of a point of reference.

Many years ago a 55-volume series entitled The Great Books of the Western World was published by Encyclopedia Britannica. The books covered the most important ideas of eminent thinkers through the centuries. The longest essay is about God. Mortimer Adler, co-editor of the series, explained: "It is because more consequences for life follow from that one issue than from any other." When we're not sure where we are or where we should head, it's nice to have a mountain range to let us know where True North is. At a far more important level, when we're confused spiritually, it's essential to have God as our point of reference. Not just any god, but the true God as He wants to be known and as He revealed Himself. That's why we slow down one day each week in order to check our thought patterns to be sure they line up with His. Actually, writing this blog every day helps me, in the same way, to center down and think honestly about my point of reference. Is it based on what I'm feeling? On natural human fears? Or on what I know is true about God based on His "love letter" to us His children? Viewing Him as He really is turns out to be the most important decision we can make. So I hope we'll all find some quiet time this Sunday to check our point of reference.

We'll be traveling all day, heading home. It's a 12-hour drive. We trust God for safety and to speak to us about Himself.

I hope this can serve as Sunday's blog.

Love,
Carol