Friday, June 20, 2008

Allegory of the...Freeway?

I was laying in bed the other night and thought this up and decided to turn on the light and write it in my journal. So here I thought I'd post it up, if I can decipher the handwriting that I wrote at midnight, and my handwriting is bad enough anyways! This will be copied word for word, because it's late right now, but in the future maybe I'll tweak it a little and improve it and maybe add some other ideas I've had since then, because this can be expanded. Additionally, both the real story and the symbolical meaning is sometimes incorporated into this mesh of words, so ideally the story will come first and then the explanation later, but that's a project for a different time. Here it is:

Life is like a highway. Sometimes we get off the exit and detour from our true destination, which is the celestial kingdom. Sometimes interchanges come up, and people take the roads to the other kingdoms. When we get off the narrow, straight freeway, sometimes the access to the on-ramp is blocked from the off-ramp. Sometimes we need to drive a little ways and then pop a U-turn (repent means to turn around) and bypass the roadblock through the help of our in-car navigation system kind of like OnStar - sometimes the volume is low - sometimes we can't remember where the volume control is - sometimes our arms don't seem long enough and we really have to work to reach it. However, a voice does come out of the navigation system, telling the will of Him who watches the position of our and every car on the satellite tracking system, overseeing legions of helpers recording every turn we make. He waits at our destination. Often we need the help of "officers" along the way, those who wear a badge of leadership and priesthood, those who venture out into the muddlesome places and attempt to direct those who are weaving ll over the road back to the main highway. Sometimes other officers (or perhaps the same one) regulate entrance to the highway by approving returners. They stand by a car wash, for being clean is of utmost importance on the highway. Additionally, it is sometimes a junior officer in training who actually raises the bar to let a freshly washed car onto the freeway. Sometimes it is hard for a car to find its way back because of the detours, but I testify there is an unblocked on-ramp for every car, if it chooses to seek it long and hard enough. Billboards along the road attempt to entice cars with their siren's song to take the next exit, but those that learn to listen and enjoy the soft music coming from the navigation radio never have need for the billboards and ignore them. Every week we pull into a rest area and refuel. Sometimes it seems the road will never end. Those in the know know that the real trick to getting to the destination is driving until your car wears out and collapses, for as we all know, roads never really end - everything is interconnected. After your car collapses, JC Grace Towing will come, evaluate your car, and decide whether it is worthy for the destination. If so, it will be taken the rest of the way by the towing company. The executive of the towing company is the only person with the key to the compound to which we all aspire. The number of dings on the front from giving those in front a nudge in troubled times might be evaluated, as well as any unwashed spots. Some try to crash early, while others take an exit and drive, trying to get away, but their car will eventually wear out too, and then they'll be in a pickle, because they will be so far away from the range of the towing company they will have to stay and roast and burn in the desert. Those who are closer but not on the freeway will have to pay a fee to be towed. Highway travelers get the service for free.

1 comment:

Claire said...

Sean, that's beautiful. Really. Absolutely brilliant. I'm truly blessed to be able to witness some of the workings of your mind. You must have been inspired. You might have just answered my prayers. You see, I have to give a talk in a few weeks and take up at least 15 minutes. I'm really nervous because I've been trying to find something to use in my talk and I keep coming to dead ends. I've been praying for help. This allegory is absolutely perfect. It fits into the topic like butter. May I possibly have your permission to use it in my talk? I understand completely if you don't want me to. That's fine. I feel kind of nervy even asking.