Reflections for 2/21/11

"All roads lead to Rome, they say, and ours leads us a crooked way."(F. Buechner "Listening to Your Life" p. 53)

When we bought our used Chrysler Town and Country one of the items the previous owner had in the car was a navigation system.  I'll admit that I like having it, but I don't know if I was buying a new car that it would be something I would pay extra for.

With this system I can ask it to calculate the trip based on quickest route or least use of freeways among the choices.  I usually take the quickest route, which seems to be based on what the speed limit is on the roads. Inevitably this will mean Interstate Highways. 

The quickest route however is not always the most interesting.  One may miss some fascinating and beautiful sights. You might eat quicker on the highways, but the food might be more interesting on the local roads.

A fantasy of mine would be to just drive around the country taking the scenic routes. To see all the wonderful things this country has, some well known, others only known to the locals.  If they'd like to resurrect Charles Kuralt's on the Road show again, I'll be the first in line.

I think there's also a parallel to living life in this.  We can choose to get on the quickest route, rushing through each day and year, getting to some mile marker in our life.  The problem is we may miss some of the most incredible moments because we were living life at warp speed.

Life's journey is more interesting to me in the slower lane.  I still know where the journey ends, I just don't know when.  Why not enjoy it while I'm still in the drivers seat.

Blessings,
Ed