The Harried Mystic

In the olden days, I routinely got lost. I never quite mastered those bound maps. I couldn’t for the life of me find where the top of one continued on some other page.

Of course, invariably, I would get lost at night, so the light was never good enough to read the map well anyway. But now, that’s all over. GPS is everywhere. It’s in my phone and, frankly,  I’ve grown very attached to it.

Now, I don’t even carry a paper map. In fact, one day, maps in print will probably be merely museum curiosities, or the hobbies of avid collectors of antiquities.

Here’s the thing, though. It’s too good. I mean, I never get lost now. It still seems magical to me how I get from A to B without a hitch. But, I tell you, the fun is swiftly going out of driving. Where’s the adventure.

The days of driving disputes with my wife over taking a left or right, taking exit A or B, or stopping by a gas station to get directions are over. Well, actually, they’re just different. It’s now all about how offended she is that I put my trust in “Karin,” my pet name for my GPS, over her.

True, Karin has taken me through major cities and into the worst traffic imaginable because it was technically the straight-line path. True, a more circuitous path avoiding the traffic would have made more sense. But, we bought Karin, and I had every intention of following her counsel. She had her reasons for the high traffic routing. I am sure of it.

Sometimes my wife’s indignation rises to a level that borders on implying that I am being unfaithful and involved in an unnatural relationship with “Karin”.

Alright. I confess. Spiritually, this is all a problem. I have grown too fond of Karin. I am too dependent on the “eye in the sky” for my every automotive move.

It’s good for the soul to get lost and have to find your way. Our conveniences are making us fragile, less resilient, and certainly  more dependent on more tech toys every day.

In the Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri writes:

“In the middle of the road of my life I awoke in the dark wood where the true way was wholly lost.”

Along the hero’s journey, getting lost is obligatory. It will happen. The crucibles that come along in our lives are the fires that purify, the humbling events that make us wiser, and the encounters from which we learn the most.

So, as GPS is now being hardwired into new cars and almost all smart cell phones, it’s worth asking ourselves if we can get too soft and way too attached to these things. Maybe the device knows the most efficient and less time-consuming path, or maybe not. But, that inviting and curious side street never tried before might just pass by some scenery worth seeing, a few beautiful homes and land worth appreciating , or just give me some time to get really lost and enjoy some purpose-free exploration.

Starting this week, we are going to pick a local travel day and leave “Karin” at home.

© Brother Anton and The Harried Mystic, 2009. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.