Thursday, July 25, 2019

Autoincorrect

Autocorrect.  

What's your reaction when you see this word?  Are you laughing?  (Like I was the day my phone autocorrected "able" to "snot.") Scratching your head? (Like I did when my phone offered "Shostakovich" for "Saturday.") Autocorrect has a mind of its own, and the results it yields can range from hilarious to absurd to downright baffling.



But my autocorrect outdid itself recently, offering a replacement that stopped me in my tracks.  That was the day my phone autocorrected "GPS" to "God."

We live in a world where the majority us are continuously connected--or might we say overconnected?--to our electronic devices.  Wonder what time it is, or how hot it will get this afternoon?  Pull out your cell phone and, in a matter of seconds, you will know.  Hear a word used for which you don't know the meaning?  Google it--as I did recently when I heard the word "equipoise."  We can order groceries, window blinds or a ride with just a few taps or clicks on our phone or tablet.  And of course, if we need to know how to navigate from our house to a new restaurant we want to try, we just plug the address in to GPS, and are taken door-to-door with near-perfect precision.



But while GPS can help us get from one physical location to another, we need something more to help us make the important and critical journeys in our lives.  Rather, we need some One.  We need God.

"walkin tall !" by j2dread is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0

Like a parent helping her child learn to walk, God helps us take our first halting steps from resentment towards forgiveness.  He helps us navigate the road from heartache to healing, from sorrow to peace, and from judgment to compassion.  If we'll allow Him, He will guide us on the voyage from self-pity to gratitude and from denial to acceptance.  


Navigate by GPS, and you can select alternate routes to get you to your destination.  Those alternate routes add minutes to your travel time, and take you on circuitous routes.  But the cost of taking an alternate route is low for such a physical journey, and the benefits may outweigh those costs.   


Our loving Father leaves us free to select roads other than the path He has laid out.  His path is well-marked by the signposts of scriptures, commandments, and prophets, signposts which are discounted by many and denounced by some.  But detours and meandering routes will never take us to the magnificent destination He has in mind for us and for each of His children: eternal life with Him.  No alternate route will take us to that ultimate destination, and the cost of taking any alternate route is astronomically high, and never worth the price.

So depend on GPS to get you to that hotel, restaurant, or shopping center.  But rely on God to help you get to the one place most worth going--Home.


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