Course Correction, Part 1

I love the navigation system that came with my car. I love being able to type in an address and let it guide me. I remember the days of paper maps and written directions. After that came printed maps from the Internet, but finally came the electronic navigation system. I could use one of those in my spiritual walk — a system which tells me where to turn and how to get to my spiritual destination. And, when I make a mistake, to correct me and put me back on course.
My dash mounted GPS system would tell me it was “recalculating” when I missed a turn. That was its way of saying I’d made a mistake. What I like is that it didn’t judge me, condemn me, or “guilt” me. I missed a turn, I made a mistake. So what? The GPS simply went about the process of getting me back on track to my destination. Even though there was no moral judgment from the device, I often grew weary of hearing that word, “recalculating.”

My new navigation system doesn’t inform me that it’s recalculating. It simply does it and then gives me my next turn. No guilt. No shame. It doesn’t tell me I’m on my way to an awful, horrible, painful destination. It simply gets me back on track.