Watch Where You Are Going

Scripture tells us that the Hebrew people had long traveled since their flight from Egypt and the first chapter of Joshua tells us that their road had led them to yet another river.  God spoke to Joshua: “Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to act in accordance with all the law that my servant Moses commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, so that you may be successful wherever you go.”

I was born next to a river in the year of the Federal Highway Act.  We later lived in Rio, Florida at the confluence of the Indian and St. Lucie rivers.  So rivers and roads have always been pivotal in my life, and probably yours as well, since rivers have always been roads and every road eventually leads to a river.

In a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon, Calvin says, “You could step in the road tomorrow and—wham!—you get hit by a cement truck. That’s why my motto is, ‘Live for the moment!’ What’s your motto?”

Hobbes answers: “Look down the road.”

Having traveled many roads and crossed, I gotta’ go with Hobbes on this one. 

It is said that the secret of any art is found in the first lesson.  This is certainly true of motorcycling, in which the first lesson is: You go where you look.  Look straight, go straight.  Look right, go right.  Look left, go left.  Look down, go down.  The same principle applies to many skills; watch a gymnast on a balance beam – she always looks straight ahead, never to the right or left, and especially not down.  Countless motorcycle accidents and beam tumbles can be laid on the doorstep of this simple to understand yet difficult to affect principle: You go where you look.

A buddy and I were out in the desert for some off-road riding and were crossing a spillway when he went down.  I was following and although there was enough room for me to navigate in-between him and the spillway edge a problem occurred: I broke that cardinal rule – You go where you look.  First I looked at him, thinking “I’m gonna’ run him over!” and then at the spillway: “… or take a fifteen foot header into the river!”   So of course first I headed left directly at him, and then right towards the ledge of the spillway (contrary to what you see on TV, motorcycles are not particularly aero dynamic machines).  I was going where I was looking.  I became focused on the problem(s) rather than a solution.

But then I took a final look: at the ground.  And sure enough down I went, much to the discomfort of my bike and my backside.  I got nervous, looked right, then left, and finally down and sure enough the bike followed my directions!  If I had just remembered Hobbes and continued to look down the road, to the path between my buddy and the side of the dam, both of us would have been fine. 

Keeping our focus straight ahead, down the road, not getting distracted to the right or to the left, takes incredible discipline and courage since it means that we must let go of our preconceived notions, release fear’s control, and force ourselves into seeking a solution rather than spinning around in a perceived problem.  To look down the road is not easy, especially if the options don’t seem very attractive; but failure to look straight ahead can lead to bruising consequences …

See you in Church,