Motorway signs and mountain passes

How do you get from where you are to where you're meant to be? There are maps, satnav, human navigators, highway's agency warning signs and blind faith in your sense of direction...

Done 2,000 miles driving so far on this sabbatical - very grateful for the satnav on my phone. The woman on it is very patient, doesn't get upset when I deviate (mostly unwisely) from her suggested route. She's pretty gracious too - doesn't say 'How many times have you driven this and still you don't know that it's LEFT at the roundabout...'

Not so grateful for the Highway's Agency signs... You're driving along as you are told at 69.98 mph (on the motorway of course) - little traffic, good conditions. Then the stupid sign comes on '60'. You have no idea why they think it is a good idea, but some poor sucker ahead of you decides he'd better slow down. Which means you have to slow down as well, rippling back for miles, one car after another... Next sign says '40'. Now those in the inside lanes automatically move our a lane to avoid those who are slowing down to 40, causing those lanes to get full and slow down as well. Finally the sign says 'Queue Caution' and quickly everything grinds to a halt. Most of the time, after a mile of stop-start, you suddenly accelereate back up to the 69.98 mph and lo, the next sign says 'End' I want to scream at the signs 'YOU CAUSED THE QUEUE' There wouldn't have been one if you hadn't said there was one! The only problem was the sign saying there was a problem!! What we need is for the satnav to gently encourage us 'Don't worry, no need to slow down, there isn't really a problem'....

So, when we hit traffic problems, real or imaginary, I turn to Janet who is a very good map-navigator. Can always rely on her to plan a diversion to get us round the obstacle that requires a detour. I've simply had to learn to turn off my instincts, remain blind to the road signs and trust the voice beside me.

Catherine and the kids joined us for a week whilst we were in Carlisle a few weeks ago. Listening to her directions is a whole different ball-game. She isn't especially interested in the quickest or most direct route. Her directions are based more on fun and adventure than the more conventional criteria! So when we were headed back from Windermere to Carlisle, she suggests some interesting routes. There's Janet, me, Catherine and the kids in the car andshe is suggesting the craziest routes - and because we trust her we embark on a route through the mountains involving single track road and one in three hills. It wasn't the safest option, nor humanly the wisest. But it was exhiliarating, the views were spectacular and we had a ton of fun.

All of which makes me wonder which voice I am more prone to listen to in my faith journey? How often do I slow down or grind to a halt just because circumstances seem to be saying 'Congestion', 'Slow down', '60' when in fact God isn't saying any such thing? I wonder if I don't have the wrong satnav plugged in most of the time... The voice I listen to is too often that of convenience, that of the world and if I'm honest, that of the enemy. Then sometimes the very thing I feared seems to be the very thing that happens, reinforcing my fears. Yet I know from experience that had I carried on rather than slowing or turning aside, all would have been well...

I wonder too how often I use my intellect, my wisdom, my experience to try and navigate round the life-blocks when what I need to do is trust the one who can see the map, who has the up to the minute list of roadworks and other obstacles - who can see the best route from here to there...

And I wonder how often I miss out on the fun, the adventure, the crazy, life-affirming drives because I presume the voice that's telling me to go off-road can't be God's?