Navigating: directions, maps, and a compass

Marty Stortz has a powerful meditation on the differing ways in which we navigate, connecting it to the stuff of ordinary time. Some excerpts:

Directions are linear, moving from point to point....

Maps are planar and spatial, surveying a particular terrain....

A compass offers basic orientation. Nothing more -- and certainly nothing less. A compass provides the most comprehensive -- but least specific! -- kind of guidance. They are useful when the destination is not known. Or not clear. Or has not yet been manifest.... </blockquote>

She concludes:

Mostly, I just try to pay attention, hoping Isaiah got it right: "And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher, And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying: 'This is the way, walk in it,' when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left." (Isaiah 30:20-21) This is the journey of ordinary time.