Detour

I attended Crown College in St. Bonifacius, MN, which was about 3 hours from my home near Sebeka, MN.  During my four years at Crown College, I would frequently alter my route, in efforts to discover the fastest route.  Because of the variations of these routes, I became very well acquainted with the infrastructure of the central and south central Minnesota roadways.  By the time I was a second year senior…I had found my preferred route.

People often affirm the great state of Minnesota for having 4 distinct seasons, spring, summer, autumn and winter.  Though there is some truth to this, it may be more accurate to describe Minnesota weather as having two seasons…winter…and road construction. 

Wouldn’t you know it, that just as I became acclimated with my preferred, favorite and fastest route…road construction season hit.  Road construction jobs always seem to take FOREVER!  I cannot count the number of hours that I have spent stuck in road construction traffic over my life…so much so, in fact, that I probably could have learned to knit…if I had had any interest in knitting…which I don’t.  However, if knitting involved saws, hammers, engines or firearms…that could potentially peak my interest in knitting, but I really don’t see that happening. But hey, if Rome had been built in a day…perhaps we could find and hire the same contractor.

I remember, one fall, as I was driving back for my second senior year of college, I came to a sign that said “Detour…Road Closed to Through Traffic.”  You know what that meant…that meant that the “only” people who can drive on that road, are the ones that “need” that particular road to get to their home.  Well, technically, “I…needed this road” to get back to college.  I made the decision…and I drove around the sign…and continued south on Hwy 25 toward St. Bonifacius.  I was only about 1 mile from my next turn when…I was forced to come to a quick and sudden stop…it seemed that someone had taken the bridge away.  I had been willing to take my 1991 Ford Escort through some tough terrain…but I don’t see “fording” (ha! See what I did there?) the Crow River as a viable option.  I was faced with a decision.  I was told right at the beginning, which was the “right” way to go.  I chose the wrong route.

I believe that in most of the choices that we face, regarding right and wrong, we know which we ought to choose.  Yet, frequently, we choose that which we know to be wrong.  We will often justify our decision.  It would be like coming upon a tragic car accident and doing nothing, assuming that someone else will stop.  Perhaps we are just too busy…or we feel we are too unskilled…or just simply afraid of the commitment that it may take for us to take the time and resources to help.

Jesus tells such a story in Luke 10:25-37, about a man who had been beaten and left for dead on the side of the road.  A church leader walked by the man…and did not stop…a pastor walked by…and did not stop…an enemy of the man walked by…stopped…and helped.  Kind of makes you ask…who really was the enemy?