The Intersection
The morning began with a great disbelief that a demon clock dared to raise its voice so early. I knew he was just doing his job, but he still upset me very much. A left hand to the top of his head silenced him, but I knew my journey into a new day needed to begin.
I rolled over and painstakingly raised my body to the edge of the bed. After rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I pushed real hard and managed to get myself in an upright position. I placed one foot in front of the other and my journey began.
I made my way to the bathroom. I roamed the darkness in search of a light switch. My efforts were quickly rewarded by a beacon that nearly blinded me. It took a few moments for my eyes to adjust to the shock.
As I glared into the mirror I noticed an aging man. The wrinkles seemed to outline my eyes. I guess that is one advantage of failing eyesight, you can’t see how bad the damage really is. The hairs on my head seemed to be battling it out to see who would be the last one standing. With the few that were left up there, we should know the winner very shortly.
Life had brought me to this moment. All the intersections I had crossed lead to where I stood at that moment. There were many moments when I turned left that I should have turned right. There were many yellow, caution lights that I speeded through that I should have been patient enough to stop for. Yet, here I stood.
Barry was a man with a very interesting background. As he went through life he began to notice that his life seemed a little different from those around him. His Dad made a quick, early exit from his life. His Mom seemed to be searching for a purpose for her life. That meant he spent most of his youth with his grandparents, his Mom’s parents.
When Barry was a teenager he would try to fit in by using alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine. A group of his friends would form a gang called the “choom gang.” Barry would join the gang. They mainly hung out and smoked marijuana.
Before you feel too sorry for Barry let’s look at how really hard Barry had it. Barry’s grandparents got him into a prep school, Punahou School. He would later attend Columbia and Harvard Universities. Sure life had dealt him a bum hand with his parents, but he fared better than the average kid on his education.
Before Barry would attend Columbia, he would start at Occidental College right after high school. Barry would become a big Lakers fan. Basketball and exercise would play big roles in his life. In addition to the drugs and alcohol, he would also take up the habit of smoking Marlboros. He would say, “I smoke like this because I want to keep my weight down.”
One of the funniest things about several Bible characters is how “religious” they were. Religion, in the Bible, isn’t always portrayed very well. Those ordained or destined to be “religious” leaders often become examples of the consequences of puffed up pride.
The religious leaders who stood up against Moses were quickly destroyed by God. Priest Eli and Samuel’s sons did not replace them because of their evil ways. Saul’s determination not to wait to offer a sacrifice ultimately resulted in his defeat in battle. The New Testament is filled with stories of the pains religious leaders caused Jesus.
This Bible character was one of them. Very few knew the Word of God better than him. He knew it so well that he could probably look you in the eye and tell you all the rules you had broken. Yep, you couldn’t get any more religiously sound than him.
Life is a funny thing. No matter what choices you make, you always seem to be at an intersection. Do I turn right or left or maybe I should just keep going straight? Do I need to slow down and listen or do I need to speed up so I don’t miss an opportunity? Do I veer off the path and go for an adventure or do I just stay on the same boring paved road? Do I choose the route I know or do I try a new route?
For me, choices are very frustrating. I like to know what lies ahead and have it planned out. I like things to flow smoothly. Even when my plans get frustrated, I quickly shift into a planning mode on how to correct it. Most would probably say I’m quick on my feet. I would probably say I’m afraid of making the wrong choice or going in the wrong direction.
When I read a verse like Psalm 46:10, I must confess it really scares me. “Be still and know.” What, no plan? But what if…? Just think of all the things that can go wrong. Then there will be bigger messes to clean up. It makes absolutely no sense to me.
Among Barry’s closest friends were two Pakistanis, Mohammed Hasan Chandoo and Wahid Hamid, and an Indian, Vinai Thummalapally. Barry seemed to be searching for something and that something seemed to be an identity. Every morning he probably looked in the mirror and wondered, “Who was this young guy who was turning into a man?” He knew very little about his father and his mother always seemed caught up in her causes. What part of each of them rested in his soul?
At Occidental, Barry decided he wanted to be a writer. He took creative-writing courses and he published poems in the campus magazine. He didn’t stand out much and Caroline Boss, a friend of his, would describe him as “…a person who was mainly an observer.”
Barry would tell his friends that he wanted to be somewhere where the weather was cold and miserable so he would be forced to spend his days indoors reading. He decide to transfer to Columbia in his junior year. When he transferred to Columbia, Barry decided to stop getting high and he started taking his studies more seriously. Barry didn’t socialize much. He preferred to spend most of his time at the library.
It was while Barry was at Columbia that his Dad would die instantly when his car hit a tree. His Dad spent the night drinking at a bar and he got behind the wheel of his car. His Dad was living overseas at the time. One of Barry’s aunts called him with the news. Barry would say, “…my father remained a myth to me, both more and less than a man.” Barry was now even more confused as to who he really was.
Our Bible character, much like many of the other “religious” Bible characters before him, had to be reminded by God that a mind wasn’t the only thing that needed to be touched by “religion.” If your heart isn’t in the right place, all the rules in the world aren’t going to help you get closer to God.
When we get to the point where God needs to remind us that both the heart and the mind need to be in right relationship with Him, He places us in intersections. We can just stand there, we can turn around and go back, we can turn right, we can turn left, or we can just keep going straight.
When we get to these intersections, God usually has people standing there for us. Some entice us in the wrong direction. Some just stand there and are no help at all. Some are just as confused as we are. Some actually carry His message and guide us to the path He wants us to take.
Our Biblical character was approaching one of those intersections. He was headed full steam ahead. What he didn’t realize was the major crash he was going to encounter by the time he got to the intersection.
Our character was riding high on his religious stallion. He was well respected by those who admired his bright and shiny religious sword. He was feared by those in the dark shadows of his judgments. He ruled in the name of God and God was none too happy with his proclamations.
Two years after graduating from Columbia, Barry took a job as the Director of the Developing Communities Project. This was a church based community organization comprising eight Catholic parishes in Chicago. His job as a community organizer included setting up job training programs, tutoring programs for college preparation, and helping with tenants’ rights. Barry wasn’t just searching for who he was now, he was also helping others find out who they were, too.
Paul was quite full of “religious” knowledge. He knew that it was wrong for someone to claim they were God themselves. His zeal led him to capture and kill those who wanted to proclaim Jesus was the Son of God. There was one major flaw in Paul’s plan. His mind was right but his heart wasn’t open to the truth.
God’s answer to Paul’s issue was to place him in an intersection. Paul had no choice but to wait at the corner until someone helped him and guided him to the right path. God literally blinded Paul. Paul could not see. Paul was left on the corner as the others on the corner had to wait for God to tell them what to do with Paul.
After a few days Paul was healed. Not only did his eyesight come back, but his heart was corrected, too. Paul became one of the greatest crusaders for Christ, but that never stopped the intersections he would encounter.
In 1988, Barack “Barry” Obama would travel to Kenya for five weeks. It was here he would meet some of his family from his father’s side for the first time. I’m sure Obama had a lot of questions he was asking.
Children missing a parent when they grow up usually look for mentors to fill the gaping hole left by the void. Obama was no different. Some of his mentors included Emil Jones, Valerie Jarrett, Judson Miner, Abner Mikva, Newton Minow, David Axelrod, Penny Pritzker, Richard Lugar, Richard Durbin, and Jeremiah Wright. Sometimes it’s very easy to cast judgment on the individual for the mentors they choose, but that is somewhat unfair. It’s not like the individual took applications for a mentor. When an intersection comes into an individual’s life, there are usually people standing in the middle of that intersection. These people really care about the troubled soul. The person doesn’t need to know what the individual stood for, they only needed to know that they cared.
Life can lead us to some really congested and confusing intersections. Our life may be in a mess and we may be there for instruction on where to turn. Searching for who we are or what we should do are some of the questions we are asking. But God has placed us there and He knows how to get us to where he wants us to go next. The best part is that if we make a wrong turn He always has another intersection where He can get us back on the right path.
And sometimes we are also called to be that person in the intersection. In those cases where God places us there, it is our duty to help those approaching the intersection. We help them with our experience and we love them with our hearts.
Prayer: Dear Mighty Father, You know when I wander around aimlessly searching for direction for my life. Although intersections seem painful to stop at, You have placed them there to help me out. Please let me wait for Your instruction before I attempt to map out my own plan. Amen.
