Mirror numbering
Depending on the layout of the city, town, or rural roads that mark the place of your inhabitance, you may have experienced the system of what I have come to term "mirror numbering". I'm sure there is probably a more technical term given to it by some traffic engineer...I've just never bothered to investigate . As is the case in many other situations, I prefer to come up with my own metaphor that explains it. Mirror numbering is simply the method of having street address numbers proceed in opposite directions from a specific point of origin. In other words, 1st avenue north and 1st avenue south both originate in one point and there is a 100 block on either side of that point. As you progress to the middle from either direction you are moving towards zero and at the meeting point you begin to again move away from zero without even changing the direction that you were originally heading. I have discovered this phenomenon to be true even within some life journey's and the process of change.
This has come to be our reality these past several weeks. I find myself back in the100 blocks of life as we are only 3 days away from the completion of more than 13 years of ministry in this setting. At the end of 3 days we will be back to the point of origin on this road we've been on for so long. On the 4th day I will wake up and be once again at 100 heading in a new direction.
Thinking back over this time I realize that I've missed a number of blocks along the way. I don't mean that I didn't experience them. What I mean is that I have a hard time recalling them. Many are quite unforgettable, but some I passed by because I wasn't really paying attention. We live a block off of a main thoroughfare in our neighborhood. For 13 years we've traveled up and down, both directions, sometimes multiple times a day. I thought that I had seen everything there was to see....until we gave up automobile entitlement more than a year ago and began to rely on our original mode of transportation ... Feet. Now I can honestly say that not a day goes by that I don't see something different or changed or otherwise unnoticed.
If I take a bigger view of things...a google earth view... I can see that the journey began to wind towards the center from the day it began. That's the way it is. That's the way it is for all of us. I just missed enough of the numbers along the way to miss the progression. Let me offer this bit of insight from someone who now walks a decent part of my life. Those numbers are winding down for many of us. At some point, you will, just as we have, reach a point of origin in whatever circumstance, good or bad, that you find yourself in and will then begin to head in a different direction...same journey of life, just different. Let me caution you... Those numbers are there for a reason. Slow down enough to take note of them...walk if you have to. Stop at a bench, sit down and take it all in. Chances are that they've prepared you for the new direction, or at least imparted some wisdom. Enjoy the journey.
This has come to be our reality these past several weeks. I find myself back in the100 blocks of life as we are only 3 days away from the completion of more than 13 years of ministry in this setting. At the end of 3 days we will be back to the point of origin on this road we've been on for so long. On the 4th day I will wake up and be once again at 100 heading in a new direction.
Thinking back over this time I realize that I've missed a number of blocks along the way. I don't mean that I didn't experience them. What I mean is that I have a hard time recalling them. Many are quite unforgettable, but some I passed by because I wasn't really paying attention. We live a block off of a main thoroughfare in our neighborhood. For 13 years we've traveled up and down, both directions, sometimes multiple times a day. I thought that I had seen everything there was to see....until we gave up automobile entitlement more than a year ago and began to rely on our original mode of transportation ... Feet. Now I can honestly say that not a day goes by that I don't see something different or changed or otherwise unnoticed.
If I take a bigger view of things...a google earth view... I can see that the journey began to wind towards the center from the day it began. That's the way it is. That's the way it is for all of us. I just missed enough of the numbers along the way to miss the progression. Let me offer this bit of insight from someone who now walks a decent part of my life. Those numbers are winding down for many of us. At some point, you will, just as we have, reach a point of origin in whatever circumstance, good or bad, that you find yourself in and will then begin to head in a different direction...same journey of life, just different. Let me caution you... Those numbers are there for a reason. Slow down enough to take note of them...walk if you have to. Stop at a bench, sit down and take it all in. Chances are that they've prepared you for the new direction, or at least imparted some wisdom. Enjoy the journey.
Comments